>>2834427
And as I stated on Twitter, the first half hour or hour or so will be dedicated to recap and q&a. So feel free to ask anything that's on your minds and I'll give the best response I can manage. And when it seems like we're done with question time I'll move on into the plot updates for today's session.

Ask away, or not. It's in your court!

>>2834427
>Ōtoribashi Rōjūrō and Aikawa Love were quickly beaten by the Sternritter Askin Nakk le Vaar who had stayed resolutely out of battle until being deliberately engaged. Once again, the tides of war have begun to shift.
Now I feel somewhat salty at this hindsight.

>>2834435
>Head Captain Shunsui and his Lieutenant Ise Nanao went missing in the Dangai,
I thought is was just Shunsui and Lille. Why did Nanao tag along?
>Captains Hitsugaya, Zaraki, and Komamura have all been incapacitated with grave wounds.
Are they out of the battle?
>Gin, Rangiku, Tia, Temporarily KO'd of the battle.
What about Soifon, Bambi, and Apacci? They tapping out?

For any captain or Lieutenant class fighter still in fighting condition, how long will it take for them to recover if we're going by the plan of having the division scrubs lend their reiatsu to their captains in aiding recovery?

Can you provide a brief recap of the current battle strategem for Seireitei? Like procedures when it comes to the wounded, second contingency plans in case the trap falls early or the pillars fall, etc. Stuff discussed during the captains meetings before the big battle.

>>2834435
What are the thoughts of the Lieutenants on guard duty, watching all the fights going on? I guess in regards to the Miracle guy that won't stay down dammit.

>>2834435
Is the T-storm that Tia created still growing?

>>2834453
Nanao was part of Shunsui's plan. It means he's in a desperate enough situation that he needs to rely on her abilities.

Hitsugaya has been knocked around on two successive outings. He's not dead yet, but he'll need some time to recover before throwing himself back into the grinder again. Zaraki and Komamura got it worse, their bodies are ripped up too much even for a Captain to continue fighting like that. Unless the endgame is delayed for long enough to put them back together, then they're out of the game.

Soi Fon, Bambi, and Apacci are doing what they can to support the Vizards at the moment, since their engagement with Gerard has demonstrated pretty clearly that they're not equipped to actually defeat him.

It's becoming a delaying action.

>>2834464
What about Tia, Rangiku, and Gin?

>>2834453
For the last part of that post, the battle strategy is fairly complicated. The fighters in Karakura town are there to assess enemy strength and reduce their numbers (ideally to zero). But there is also a "back line" of Captain-class fighters left in the Seireitei in case an unexpected power like Gerard's, Askin's, or Lille's true abilities wiped out the entire advance force. If the Captains over-concentrated and walked into such an ability there would be no chance to recover, but this way even if every single fighter went down swinging in the fake Karakura town the remaining Captains and Starrk would have a much better shot at holding their own line.

The idea is to keep as many of the forward division alive through this process as possible, but the plan obviously allows room for the possibility that they all die.

>>2834456
Mostly a growing sense of frustration, mixed with a grim sense of determination.

>>2834460
It is.

>>2834470
Wounded but alive. Tia in particular has gone to ground, while Gin is waiting to strike.

That's the role a snake should play, after all.

>>2834477
How much time has passed since the Time-trap was sprung on Aizen?

>>2834485
Nobody's really kept a precise count except for Kisuke.

But it's been nearly forty minutes.

>>2834495
Has Kisuke been keeping an eye on the fights, and how much has his brain been whirling by analyzing the Quincy's abilities?

How long until Riku and Yoru get back in the fight?

>>2834495
How close are Ichigo and co. to the "princess locked in the tower"?

>>2834495
>>2834526
I honestly forgot, but how are their mothers doing? can they hear all the mayhem going on from their prison cell?

>>2834506
Yes, and to a Kisuke degree. He's already trying to devise possible counters, the problem is he can't test any of his guesswork in real time. Also, he can't see Shunsui and Lille's fight except as data from the Dangai records. So that's another layer of guesswork involved.

>>2834517
It's going to be close.

>>2834526
Very.

>>2834537
Ultimately there are some things even Aizen considers unnecessarily dickish, and hurting Masaki or Kanae falls into that category.

Hurting them gets him nothing, and he's not interested in them enough to have any reason to hurt them aside from practical considerations.

>>2834475
Gimme a weather forecast report on the storm by either Kisuke or Askin (who is live on the scene. Preferrably the latter because I think it's amusing)

>>2834560
“In other news, the freak storm developing over Karakura town in the east Tokyo region continues to grow. For more news, we go to our man on the scene, Bambietta Basterbinne.”
“Bambi?”
“Fuck off.”
“You heard it here first, sports fans. The storm system is expected to continue building through the afternoon. Or something like that."

>Story post incoming

>>2834574
hearty chuckles all around.

File: 290665.jpg (33 KB, 225x350)

33 KB JPG

>>2834427
You are Muguruma Kensei, and two of your fellow Captain-level vizards are down.

“What happened?” Mashiro asks aloud, having apparently missed much of the action... you can't blame her. That quincy Rose and Love were fighting was fast, even compared to your own speed in hollowfication. “He put Rose and Love down in one punch each! How is that even fair!?”

“It's never 'fair',” you grumble. “But that's how it is sometimes. Complaining about it does nobody any good.”

“That's...”

“Nothing,” you interrupt. “It's neither good nor bad, it's just the way it is. All that matters is what we're going to do about it.”

“And what are you going to do about it?”

The quincy, now shirtless, crosses his arms and waits patiently for your reply.

You draw your sword. “I'm going to kill you.”

“That so?” he muses. “Well, good luck with that.”

“Thanks,” you grumble back.

“Hey, I mean it!” the quincy insists.

“What do you want me to do, Kensei?” Mashiro asks eagerly.

You glare at the nameless quincy. “Stay out of my way.”

The blow to the back of your head is almost immediate. “Kensei, you meanie! I really want to help you out here, and this is how you treat me!?”

“This isn't a game!” you bark. “When I want your help I'll tell you, so just be patient.”

Thinking about it... Rose and Love definitely hit this guy hard the first time. And from what you can gather when they tried it again he shrugged it off. So that's it then? He somehow adapted to their attacks after experiencing them once?

Or then again, maybe that's not exactly how it worked. That's the trouble with watching a guy like this talk for so long, if you couldn't actually hear him from where you were standing when he explained how his powers work it doesn't do you any good.

>Try Tachikaze's release form.
>Try your Bankai straight out the gate.
>Try to poison him with your hollowfication
>Other?

>>2834589
>>Try to poison him with your hollowfication
Not really sure what else to do?

>>2834589
>Try Tachikaze's release form.
Poison won't can't hurt him. So physical beatings is the only way.

>>2834589
>>Try Tachikaze's release form.

>>2834589
>>Try Tachikaze's release form.

>>2834589
>Try Tachikaze's release form

>3d10, best of three

Rolled 5, 2, 1 = 8 (3d10)

>>2834630
welp. Dice is having a very sketchy track record from our last several sessions.

Rolled 1, 1, 6 = 8 (3d10)

>>2834630

Rolled 3, 3, 10 = 16 (3d10)

>>2834630

Rolled 8, 7, 4 = 19 (3d10)

>>2834630

>>2834630
You make a somewhat difficult decision... but maybe it's the only one you have. Your decision is to sacrifice a technique.

The least powerful ability you reckon is Tachikaze's shikai, which lets you attack with reiatsu-laden compressed air blades. If you succeed in killing your enemy with it then that's fine, and you'll be satisfied with that result. But if you're right and he somehow adapts to it, you'll have seen it in use and still have Bankai, hollowfication, and an effectively endless list of kidō ready to make use of that knowledge.

“Blow it away, you declare, spinning your blade on one finger. “Tachikaze!”

“It's rather small,” the quincy chuckles at your release. “You sure you wanna show that in public?”

“Shut up,” you snap before firing off a blast at him.

His eyes widen slightly as he glances at his shoulder, where a wide gash appears in a spurt of blood. Then he sidesteps almost more on instinct, dodging your second and third attacks in quick succession. But he can't quite dodge your fourth attack, which comes after you use a shunpō to get behind him. This one opens up his side, leaving his left side from the ribs down wet with blood.

“How is this possible?” he demands, staring in shock at his hand as it comes away from his ribs stained in red. “Why isn't the Deathdealing working? Am I... am I going to die this time?”

You raise your blade in response, aiming the last blow for the base of his neck.

At the last possible second, his eyes narrow.

“Just kidding.”

The attack that was meant to kill him simply stops cold against his skin, diffusing in a puff of reiatsu.

>You didn't see what he did... maybe you can prompt him to monologue about it?
>Call in Mashiro. It's time for her to make one of her dynamic entrances.
>Try hollowfication. If he's immune to this attack you have to change it up.
>Other?

>>2834727
>You didn't see what he did... maybe you can prompt him to monologue about it?

>>2834727
>You didn't see what he did... maybe you can prompt him to monologue about it?
Usually a safe bet

>>2834727
>>Other?
Try to bind him. If he won't die, you can at least lock him down.

Not really interested in hoping he's an idiot and gives away how his power works.

>>2834727
>>Other?
Bind him

>>2834727
I'll continue in either 10 minutes or when the tie is broken

>>2834727
>>You didn't see what he did... maybe you can prompt him to monologue about it?

Alright then. Roll me 3d10, DC 18. Best of three.

Rolled 5, 2, 10 = 17 (3d10)

>>2834832
shit dice as usual.

Rolled 6, 8, 10 = 24 (3d10)

>>2834832

Rolled 1, 9, 3 = 13 (3d10)

>>2834832
That 24 looks great.

>writing

Rolled 10, 1, 6, 9 = 26 (4d10)

Also, QM needs to do QM things.

>>2834832
Next you extend one hand towards him... if you can't hit him, then you'll have to make it so you can hit him. That's all there is to it, so even if you rarely use it now's the best time possible to dust off such a technique.

“Bakudō 61: Rikujōkōrō!”

The six beams of yellow impale the quincy around his midsection, then you continue the assault as he struggles against it.

“Carriage of thunder, bridge of a spinning wheel...”

Then he does something unexpected: he chuckles.

“Sorry, couldn't help myself,” he apologizes, stepping out of the kidō restraints with an infuriating nonchalance. “You're finally starting to get it, aren't you? That it's not just your shikai I'm immune to.”

“My reiatsu?” you realize?

The quincy replies with a devious smirk. “Bingo. That's it.”

“Now, let's tell the man what he's...”

“Maaashiroooo...”

A multicolored blur collides with his face, sending him crashing to the ground in a plume of dust.

“Kick!” Mashiro cheers in her echoing, hollowfied voice, pumping a fist enthusiastically. “Who da man? I da man!”

You blink slowly in surprise.

“Hey, Kensei!” she berates you loudly. “How about showing some appreciation...”

She then turns slowly in place to find the quincy staring at her with a completely confused expression on his face. Then he pops his bleeding nose back into place.

“That was interesting,” he admits. “This one's part hollow too?”

“You're damn right I am!” Mashiro shoots back. “And unlike those other guys I've got some stamina!”

“You shouldn't be involving yourself,” you grumble. “You should have waited longer to get involved.”

“Forget that!” Mashiro snaps. “You know how long I kept my mask on the first time, Kensei?”

“Was it fifteen hours?” you grumble the inevitable answer.

“Fifteen. Hours!” she repeats.
>1/2

>>2834958
“I fail to see how that's relevant,” the quincy admits.

“Don't say that,” you grumble. “Unless you never wanna hear the end of it.”

“I heard that!” Mashiro scoffs. “Kensei, you meanie.”

“Listen,” you lower your voice, still keeping an eye on the quincy as he wipes the blood off his face. “I have an idea. How good's your zanjutsu?”

“Bout the same as always, why?”

“You know the kamaitachi?”

“Kinda.”

“Can you use it?”

“Not well,” she admits. “Not like one of you Captains can. Why?”

“I want you to use it,” you insist.

“Really?”

“Really,” you confirm. “But since you're not as good with it I want you to hang back a little, only use it when you see a clear opening. Got it?”

“Can do, Kensei!” she replies with a cheerful salute.

>Go straight in, make sure his focus is entirely on you so Mashiro can maneuver.
>Keep a slight distance, don't give him an easy chance to strike back.
>Lead with Tachikaze, try and take him by surprise.
>Other?

>>2834974
>>Go straight in, make sure his focus is entirely on you so Mashiro can maneuver.

>>2834974
>Go straight in, make sure his focus is entirely on you so Mashiro can maneuver.

>>2834974
>>Go straight in, make sure his focus is entirely on you so Mashiro can maneuver.

>>2834974
>>Go straight in, make sure his focus is entirely on you so Mashiro can maneuver.

>>2834974
>Keep a slight distance, don't give him an easy chance to strike back.

>3d10, best of three
>DC 18, critical 25

Rolled 9, 1, 9 = 19 (3d10)

>>2835008
Got a good feeling about this one.

Rolled 8, 10, 10 = 28 (3d10)

>>2835008

>>2835017
Daaaaaaaaaamn, nice one.

Rolled 2, 7, 7 = 16 (3d10)

>>2835008
>>2835017
Apparently things are going to be alright

Rolled 5, 9, 4 = 18 (3d10)

And QM doing QM things.

>>2835030
This is something of a gamble you're taking, but it's one that given what little you know about your enemy so far seems to be one that might well pay off.

Instead of continuing to rely on your shikai, you close the distance and start taking apparently-desperate swings at the quincy. He simply sidesteps and weaves through your punches, with an expression like he's playing with a kitten. You make a show of frustration, knowing that you're really going to have to sell it for this to work.

Then you take your shot. Instead of stepping in you take a step back, opening a sudden gap and confusing the quincy for a moment. And in the next moment you release the kamaitachi, a flawless arc of compressed air along a razor-sharp edge that cuts a shallow line across his chest.

He grunts in pain, before a spiritual bow spreads from his wrist. A trio of arrows streak past, with one blasting off a small chunk of your shoulder in a searing burst of pain. But the results were clear even before Mashiro follows through with a grazing, messy repeat of the technique you just used: you've found a way to hurt him.

“What was that?” the quincy mutters, testing the edges of his new chest wound. “That one was different.”

“There was no reiatsu,” you explain calmly. “Just air. And even if you could make yourself immune to that you'd have to be a retard to actually do it.”

“I see,” he responds thoughtfully. “So you shinigami have such a technique. Well done.”

But that smirk of his comes back immediately. “But it's not gonna be enough.”

“What did you say?”

He reveals that the wound in his chest has already begun to heal. “Sorry, but you seem to have forgotten to factor in Blut Vene.”

Shit. And what frustrates you even more is that this guy hasn't even started fighting back, at least not seriously.

>Keep up the pressure with rapid-fire kamaitachi... you'll bleed him out from papercuts if that's what it takes.
>Maybe electric shock will be similar to how air works against his ability?
>Maybe if you could shoot a cero into a wound opened by a kamaitachi it would kill him for good?
>Other?

>>2835114
>>Maybe electric shock will be similar to how air works against his ability?

>>2835114
>>Keep up the pressure with rapid-fire kamaitachi... you'll bleed him out from papercuts if that's what it takes.

>>2835114
>Maybe electric shock will be similar to how air works against his ability?

>>2835114
>Maybe electric shock will be similar to how air works against his ability?
>other: If physical objects are a thing that he can't heal out of, why not impalement by rebar?

>>2835114
>Keep up the pressure with rapid-fire kamaitachi... you'll bleed him out from papercuts if that's what it takes.

>>2835114
suupporting >>2835144

>3d10, best of three
>DC 19, critical 24

Rolled 5, 3, 5 = 13 (3d10)

>>2835168
Askin for trouble

Rolled 2, 4, 5 = 11 (3d10)

>>2835168
AND OUR LUCK GOES DOWN.

Rolled 4, 1, 6 = 11 (3d10)

>>2835168
The power of wind revealed!

>>2835168
You know exactly what to look for next: an above-ground transformer. Lots of sharp metal, high voltage... if he can't adapt to wind then it stands to reason slamming him into a transformer so hard it explodes is going to hurt him just as badly.

So the moment you spot one, you use a kamaitachi from just outside the range where you can get it to hit him before he dodges, and when he sidesteps you slam your foot into his gut.

“Mashiro!” you shout.

You don't hear the first part of her shout, but you slowly hear her voice growing louder as she closes the distance.

“Suuupaaaaah KIIIIIICK!” she shouts, planting both her feet in the quincy's chest. There's a small boom and she passes through a thin ring of compressed water vapor as all that force is transferred into her victim, who slams into the transformer an instant later.

“And that's how it's done!” she cheers.

But for your part, you're worried. “It didn't blow up.”

Wait a minute.

“That idiot Kisuke did a halfass job!” you realize. “The damn electric grid doesn't work!?”

“What?” Mashiro asks, giving you a confused look as you see the quincy's bloodied face appear over her right shoulder

>3d10, best of three

Rolled 6, 10, 4 = 20 (3d10)

>>2835238

Rolled 5, 1, 4, 5, 1, 5, 6, 5, 3, 6 = 41 (10d6)

>>2835238

Rolled 1, 3, 6 = 10 (3d10)

>>2835238

Rolled 4, 1, 1 = 6 (3d10)

>>2835238
well I fucked that first roll up

>>2835241
wrong dice.

>>2835238
“Kensei?” Mashiro asks, glancing at you in disbelief.

She glances down at the quincy's hand, where he hit you with a darkened ball of reishi of some kind that was meant for your former Lieutenant.

“It's fine,” you grunt. “I...”

And then your breath catches.

“That would be the sensation of acute oxygen toxicity,” he informs you. “Same as what I hit the other two with. But don't worry, I have no intention of killing you... I just need you people out of the picture for a while.”
>1/2

>>2835277
You are Mashiro Kuna, and this isn't right.

Kensei... Kensei took that hit for you?

No way.

“Kensei!” you shout. “Just... just hold your breath for a while, okay!? Come on Kensei!”

You throw a powerful punch at the quincy who did this to your friend, but he just steps aside. Even with your hollowfication he's just playing around with you. But you can do better than that. Especially if it's for Kensei.

“Raaagh!” you shout, not even bothering with the name of your Mashiro Super Cero kick. Both the kick and the cero collide with the quincy, but it only knocks him back a little.

“Why!?” you demand, punching the quincy again in his face. “Why are you people doing this!? Why are you following that jerk Aizen!?”

“I can't understand something like that!”

Your punches, as badly as you want them to accomplish something, anything, aren't.

>Keep trying anyway, Kensei is counting on you.
>Demand that he explain clearly, what he meant by 'out of the picture'.
>Try and fall back, maybe Hachi can help Kensei.
>Other?

>>2835308
>>Demand that he explain clearly, what he meant by 'out of the picture'.

>>2835308
god dammit. now we control this green haired chunni ditz.
>Demand that he explain clearly, what he meant by 'out of the picture'.

>>2835308
>Demand that he explain clearly, what he meant by 'out of the picture'.

>>2835308
>>Demand that he explain clearly, what he meant by 'out of the picture'.
Now it seems like a good time for a villainous monologue.

>>2835308
>>Keep trying anyway, Kensei is counting on you.

>>2835308
>Keep trying anyway, Kensei is counting on you
Gotta BELIEVE

>>2835308
When he calmly catches your wrist, your frustration finally boils over. “What did you mean 'out of the picture', anyway? Explain it clearly so that people can understand!”

“It's simple,” he responds, slamming another orb into your stomach. You instinctively start holding your breath, trying to save yourself as much time as possible given the circumstances.

“See, way I see it there's more to changing the world than just having the power to do it,” the quincy declares as you struggle desperately to pound your fist through him. “You've gotta have the will to do it too. Way I see it there's only two people right now who have both, and you guys have got one of 'em trapped in amber over there.”

“And I really don't care who wins either,” he admits, twisting your wrist behind your back as his poison and your stubborn refusal to breath work their effects. “Guess you could say I'm so desperate to see anything happen to change the shitty way things are. Lot of us were so addled by the time Aizen found us we just threw ourselves in behind him, feeling kinda the same way. At least if we dedicated ourselves to that guy something good might happen.”

“But at this point the options are him winning, or that Kusajishi woman winning. Either way, the world won't be the same as it was before... it'll be a revolution. And what's the point of a revolution if nobody's around afterwards to see the effects?”

You can feel yourself blacking out, and you can't hold your breath any longer. You wasted too much trying to fight back.

“So that's why. You people need to get outta the way so all that can happen, and I'd rather not kill you if I have the choice. I want you all to see the end of this same as I get to. It's only fair, right?”

>CHOOSE YOUR PERSPECTIVE
>Halibel
>Gin
>Shinji

>>2835392
>>Halibel

>>2835392
>>Gin
Best boy

>>2835392
>Gin

>>2835392
>>Gin

>>2835392
>Halibel

>>2835392
>Shinji

>>2835392
>>Gin

>>2835392
>Halibel

>tallying and writing

>>2835474
“Hey Rangiku, you still kicking?”

Somewhere to your left, you hear Rangiku stirring. “Somehow.”

“You thought up a plan yet?”

“I was gonna ask you the same thing,” she replies flatly. “Jeez, where'd that jerk Aizen even get these monsters from?”

“Who knows,” you muse.

“You do,” Rangiku accuses you, finally sitting up. “That's why I was asking!”

“Doesn't matter anyway,” you shrug. “You think miss Halibel is ready?”

“Hell if I know,” Rangiku admits. “I'm not even sure we're ready.”

“Well,” you sigh, sensing the moment you've been waiting for this whole time. “It's not gonna matter if we're ready in a few minutes.”

“Already?”

“It's been more than forty minutes,” you point out. “Easily. So every minute longer miss Kaoru can hold out will be a miracle. And like miracles...”

“They run out eventually?” Rangiku snorts. “That what you were gonna say? Because there's a giant quincy viking out there who'd disagree.”

“As if!” you protest. “What I was gonna say is that you can't count on them.”

“Same point applies.”

“Yeah, yeah,” you admit defeat.

>You should head over to Kaoru, try and keep Aizen from harming her if you can prevent it. One small victory at a time.
>You need to come up with a way to protect or hide the medical teams. This battle is about to end, but it doesn't have to end with all of you dead.
>Get out there and prepare a counterattack for when Aizen is finally free. This may be your last chance to turn things around.
>Other?

>>2835518
>>You need to come up with a way to protect or hide the medical teams. This battle is about to end, but it doesn't have to end with all of you dead.

>>2835518
>>You need to come up with a way to protect or hide the medical teams. This battle is about to end, but it doesn't have to end with all of you dead.

>>2835518
>>You should head over to Kaoru, try and keep Aizen from harming her if you can prevent it. One small victory at a time.

>>2835518
>You need to come up with a way to protect or hide the medical teams. This battle is about to end, but it doesn't have to end with all of you dead.
>other: split up. Rangiku can cover for Kaoru, Gin can try and hide the medical teams.

>>2835518
>>You need to come up with a way to protect or hide the medical teams. This battle is about to end, but it doesn't have to end with all of you dead.

>>2835518
>You need to come up with a way to protect or hide the medical teams. This battle is about to end, but it doesn't have to end with all of you dead.

>>2835518
>Get out there and prepare a counterattack for when Aizen is finally free. This may be your last chance to turn things around.

>>2835518
“The plan has to be to protect the medical teams,” you decide.

“Why?” Rangiku asks. “You really think it's that hopeless?”

You nod quietly. “No. But there are a lot of people who will be vulnerable to Kyōka Suigetsu who won't be able to fight Aizen at all... and you know damn well they'll want to take a shot at him anyway.”

“So even if we win the fight against Aizen we stand to lose too much,” Rangiku realizes. “Damn.”

“Let's go,” you suggest. “It could happen any minute.”

“Okay.”

You pick your way through the ruins of the fake Karakura town, which look more like the set from a disaster film than they do someplace habitable. Like it's the day after the apocalypse and only the two of you are left... or rather it would be were it not for the rumbling of the earth below your feet as the desperate battle to try and put a dent in that big bastard Gerard continues to rage.

It seems like that old man Hachi's barrier finally failed.

Eventually you find Lieutenant Kotetsu, who greets you with an expression of shock.
>3d10, taking the fourth roll

Rolled 8, 4, 4 = 16 (3d10)

>>2835613

Rolled 2, 2, 7 = 11 (3d10)

>>2835613
Random encounter?

Rolled 1, 2, 10 = 13 (3d10)

>>2835613

Rolled 8, 7, 10 = 25 (3d10)

>>2835613

Rolled 8, 3, 8, 7 = 26 (4d10)

>>2835613
QM roll

>>2835613
“Captain Ichimaru! Lieutenant Matsumoto!” she realizes with a jolt, looking up from trying to stitch Komamura's ruined body back together with her kaidō. “Why are you..”

Then you can feel it.

“That was quick,” you mutter. “Rangiku, can you do it?”

She frowns, but eventually nods. “Yeah. I can.”

You reach out, trying to quickly find the nearest Commando... there.

“Kakushitsuijaku.”

Once you establish the connection you greet Mirai calmly. “Third Deat, I need a favor. I need you to go and see to miss Kaoru for us... do not engage anyone while you're at it.”

When you feel the Third Seat's reiatsu move, obliging your command, you turn back to Rangiku. “And?”

“Look for yourself,” she pants. “I did good, right?”

Sure enough, the thin layer of Byakkokiri's steel dust serves to reflect the light and reiatsu in the air, hiding everything underneath the loose orb despite the heavy rainfall. For now this will serve as a hidden sanctuary... you make a careful mental note where it is. If you get the opportunity it may be smart to have any more wounded evacuate to this point as well so they too can be hidden safely.

The fewer people who die in the next few minutes, the better.

“Well then, let's go and greet him.”

>Stall for time by talking to Aizen a little, see if you can allow people to start withdrawing.
>Get in close and take an aggressive approach, if you're close to Aizen the Sternritter can't interfere.
>All out joint offensive with Rangiku. If you combine your zanpakuto's attacks it might work.
>Other?

>>2835687
>Stall for time by talking to Aizen a little, see if you can allow people to start withdrawing.

>>2835687
>>Stall for time by talking to Aizen a little, see if you can allow people to start withdrawing.

>>2835687
>Stall for time by talking to Aizen a little, see if you can allow people to start withdrawing.
Monologuing, his only weakness

>>2835687
>>Stall for time by talking to Aizen a little, see if you can allow people to start withdrawing.
Sure why not.

>>2835687
>Get in close and take an aggressive approach, if you're close to Aizen the Sternritter can't interfere.

Rolled 2, 7, 6 = 15 (3d10)

>3d10
best of three

Rolled 6, 2, 6 = 14 (3d10)

>>2835755
this ain't good.

Rolled 8, 5, 9 = 22 (3d10)

>>2835755

Rolled 1, 3, 3 = 7 (3d10)

>>2835755
Here we go.

>>2835765
saved our asses Gin. Rangiku though....

File: 5c4fd37ffd7b1370dcda3d5b5(...).jpg (36 KB, 600x600)

36 KB JPG

>>2835755
“Yo!” you call out. “Long time no see, Sōsuke.”

“Gin,” Aizen greets you with that intolerable aura of smugness. He hasn't changed a bit. “You look somewhat the worse for wear. Have you been eating well enough?”

“Can't be worse than you,” you shrug. “But then again, at least it's not Captain Kusajishi's cooking.”

“To be fair she got better,” Rangiku sighs, “after a few decades.”

“As enjoyable as insulting Captain Kusajishi behind her back may be,” Aizen presses. “Do you still believe that what you are doing is the correct choice?”

“I do,” you confirm with your usual empty smile. “Anything else wouldn't sit right, you know?”

“I thought you told me once you were a snake,” he tells you as Rangiku spares a glance at Captain Fēng, who seems to understand the message. She gestures to Hirako as even Gerard's focus is drawn away.

It's working.

“Was that not true?” Aizen continues, as if oblivious to what's going on around him. “For a snake to have such sentimentality, it doesn't seem... suitable.”

>I lie all the time, Sōsuke. You know that. I lie whenever it suits me, and it suited me to lie to you.
>It wasn't a lie. A snake is always looking out for prey, and when I met you I found a big one.
>Blame my survival instinct. When a snake is threatened it coils up, waiting for its chance to strike.
>Other?

>>2835841
>>It wasn't a lie. A snake is always looking out for prey, and when I met you I found a big one.

>>2835841
>It wasn't a lie. A snake is always looking out for prey, and when I met you I found a big one.
>Other: I may be a snake, but Riku's influence can be hard to shake
I bet if we can get Aizen complaining about Riku's moral code he'll go on for a bit

>>2835841
>>It wasn't a lie. A snake is always looking out for prey, and when I met you I found a big one.

>>2835841
“You don't get it, do you?” you ask with that same smile.

“Oh?” Aizen asks. “And what is it I don't get, that you were using this conversation as a distraction so that your wounded fighters can escape to safety?”

“No,” you shake your head. “No, not that. That the prey I spoke of, that I'd devour... was you, Sōsuke.”

“That?” Aizen smiles back at you. “I've always known that, Gin. I was merely curious to see what route you took to defeat me. But now that hardly matters.”

“Oh?”

Aizen nods. “Truth be told I'm glad we're here together. Because it isn't enough to subjugate the shinigami under my command... what I truly want is a much more sublime pleasure.”

“And that is?” you frown.

“What is the point of winning if your opponent never sees your victory?” Aizen asks calmly. “Do not worry. I have no intention of killing you all, though some of you may die by accident. But when the survivors, beaten and exhausted, return to what was once their home?”

“I'd like to welcome you... to my Soul Society.”

>>2835841
>Other: I may be a snake, but Riku's influence can be hard to shake
>It wasn't a lie. A snake is always looking out for prey, and when I met you I found a big one.

>>2835923
And on that note I have to call it here for now. I'll be back tomorrow for Claymore, about the same time, and starting Monday I'll be putting in exactly one update for each thread on weekdays.

I'd like to keep some momentum, and this is the way I've thought to do it. So thanks for turning out once again, hope you had a good time, and I'll be back at it tomorrow. Archive is up, twitter and the discord are right where they have been, and if anyone needs me to tell them where that is just ask.

>>2835923
>“I'd like to welcome you... to my Soul Society.”
SHIT SHIT SHIT. AIZEN'S CRACKED YHWACH'S GOD CODE. MISSION FAILED MISSION FAILED

>>2835923
>“I'd like to welcome you... to my Soul Society.”
Herewego.png
>>2835934
Thanks for the run Queen

As a reminder there'll be another update post tomorrow night, so look forward to it!

>>2838756
This is escalating quickly.. :D

>>2835934
Those words ring in your ears: my Soul Society.

They drip with arrogance.

Aizen Sōsuke is a man who believes that he has already won, who has even gone so far as to plan how best to rub his victory in your faces. That's something you could never stand about him. It's revolting to think of a man like that becoming the ruler of anything, of subjugating you and those you care about by force. It's a primal, almost animalistic need you feel to stop him from winning.

The feeling of disgust is something you can't show on your face however.

“My, how confident,” you remark with a wry smile. “There's some Lieutenants who could learn from you, Aizen Sōsuke.”

“Gin, I may not always know what you're thinking,” Aizen smirks at you, “but I know when you're being sarcastic.”

“Good for you,” you continue smiling. “I knew you'd figure it out sooner or later. You're a clever guy like that.”

“Thank you very much,” he replies. “So, as I was saying I've been waiting for a very long time to see what your plan for defeating me was. May I ask to see it now?”

“Certainly,” you reply.

>Feint, allow Rangiku to cause a distraction, and use that to get close enough to grab hold of Aizen's blade before he uses Kyōka Suigetsu.
>Close your eyes, try fighting the way that Riku and Yoruichi do. You're not as good with it but it's a sound theory.
>You have a technique that can kill Aizen, and Rangiku hasn't seen his release. All you need to do is let her hit with Kamishini no Yari.
>Other?

>>2840642
>>You have a technique that can kill Aizen, and Rangiku hasn't seen his release. All you need to do is let her hit with Kamishini no Yari.

>>2840642
>>You have a technique that can kill Aizen, and Rangiku hasn't seen his release. All you need to do is let her hit with Kamishini no Yari.

>You have a technique that can kill Aizen, and Rangiku hasn't seen his release. All you need to do is let her hit with Kamishini no Yari.

>>2840642
>close your eyes. besides, no one can really tell if you’re squinting your eyes or actually having your eyes closed

>>2840642
>>You have a technique that can kill Aizen, and Rangiku hasn't seen his release. All you need to do is let her hit with Kamishini no Yari.

>>2840642
>You have a technique that can kill Aizen, and Rangiku hasn't seen his release. All you need to do is let her hit with Kamishini no Yari.

I'll laugh if he absorbs Askin to heal himself.

>>2840642
>You have a technique that can kill Aizen, and Rangiku hasn't seen his release. All you need to do is let her hit with Kamishini no Yari.

>>2840660
>>2840721
>>2840765
>>2841036
>>2841094
>>2841148
>>2841228
I swear to god if this kills the Gin i'm going to commit seppuku

>>2841228
>>2841148
>>2841148
>>2840765
>>2840721
>>2840660
Why are you cunts voting for the riskiest option when we all know our dice luck is super shitty?

Rolled 9, 6, 1 = 16 (3d10)

>>2842490
It's fine, best boy's luck will hold.

>>2842612
>[x] Doubt

>>2840642
>dice+3d10, DC 19, critical 27
>best of three

Rolled 4, 4, 8 = 16 (3d10)

>>2843126

Rolled 4, 9, 8 = 21 (3d10)

>>2843126

Rolled 1, 1, 7 = 9 (3d10)

>>2843126
Gin best and luckiest boy

>>2843138
>lucky
>kind of dice right there.
[x] doubt

>>2843161
Gin also has an exceptional dramatic timing.

>>2843126
… yes. If you try it like that, it might just work. But you're going to need to take the lead for that to happen, and count on Rangiku to know what she needs to do in order to follow your plan.

“Bankai,” you reply with a smirk. “Kamishini no Yari.”

Aizen is already drawing his zanpakuto by the time your own reaches him, and he succeeds in parrying the scything silver arc before is cuts him in half at the waist. But having drawn his blade, from this point on your know that Aizen's abilities mean you can no longer trust your own senses. The sole exception is your ability to sense reiatsu, as Kyōka Suigetsu's abilities cannot interfere with perception that doesn't rely on your five senses.

One of just two potential weaknesses to its “Absolute Hypnosis”, and for all the difficulty that even most Captains would have relying on it you'd be hard-pressed to say which of the two is the more difficult path.

Your attack slams Aizen heavily into the crushed shell of a highrise building.

“Come on out, Aizen Sōsuke!” you call out as the dust begins to settle and you retract your blade... or rather, most of it. Once you're done you're careful to show the profile of your sword to Rangiku. “If that was all it took to kill you, Captain Kusajishi would have done it a hundred years ago.”

“You're not fooling anyone.”

“Bankai,” you hear Rangiku follow up, possibly having noticed from a glance what you were up to. “Byakkokiri.”

You note a slight shimmer in the air for just a moment as the ashes from her blade dissipate around the two of you.

Yeah... she definitely knows.

“How interesting,” Aizen muses, having returned to a point a few dozen yards in front of you with a shunpō. “It seems you have no plan but to delay me with predictable attacks, which I've seen before.”

“How interesting,” you mock him in response. “I was sure you'd have started using sonidō by now.”

“You're just as frustrating as ever,” he grumbles.

“And you're as arrogant as ever,” you reply.

“Watch yourself, brat!” he declares. “I'm coming.”

>Keep up the fight, see what Rangiku has in mind.
>Put your plan in motion as an immediate counterattack.
>Other?

>>2843265
>>Keep up the fight, see what Rangiku has in mind.

>>2843265
>>Keep up the fight, see what Rangiku has in mind.

>>2843265
>>Keep up the fight, see what Rangiku has in mind.

>>2843265
>>Keep up the fight, see what Rangiku has in mind.
>other: try to track Shinso's venom instead of Aizen's reiatsu it's much more reliable to track your own reiatsu instead of your opponent's.

>>2843265
>Put your plan in motion as an immediate counterattack.

>>2843265
>Keep up the fight, see what Rangiku has in mind.

>>2843265
>Keep up the fight, see what Rangiku has in mind.

>>2843265
>>Keep up the fight, see what Rangiku has in mind.

Rolled 3, 8, 9, 4 = 24 (4d10)

>QM doing QM things
I need a 3d10 roll, best of three, DC 19 critical 24

Rolled 2, 1, 9 = 12 (3d10)

>>2845535

Rolled 10, 10, 1 = 21 (3d10)

>>2845535

Rolled 2, 9, 7 = 18 (3d10)

>>2845535

>finished the second round of cooking, will get into writing now

>>2843265
Aizen makes good on his threat in an instant.

Over the years you've grown familiar with how the man does things... people are creatures of habit after all, and that rule applies to shinigami as well as anyone else. Aizen isn't the sort to lead too strongly, or too weakly: he uses only as much force and skill as he deems necessary at first, letting his victims fall into a pattern where they feel comfortable that they've correctly estimated his abilities.

Then he surprises them with a single, perfectly-timed strike that takes them by surprise. Not because they had underestimated him on their own, but because they relied on the estimations that he allowed them to make.

You feel your eyes narrow, even more so than usual... which to most onlookers may seem as though your eyes are closed entirely.

You can't let him use that mental trick on you as well.

The first slash is horizontal, starting from Aizen's left hip and passing over your head as you duck under his arm and thrust forward towards his gut. He expertly sidesteps into the blind spot of your flat thrust and brings his sword back down towards your shoulder where you quickly parry it. Kyōka Suigetsu and Shinsō slide against each other as you test each other's strength, then slide away as you both take a step back to disengage.

But you're back on him in an instant, exchanging a furious series of blows meant to test Aizen's ability to keep parrying them all.

“What's wrong, Sōsuke?” you taunt him with a smile as you rain down slashes on him from almost totally random angles, carefully stepping to keep yourself both balanced and well-positioned to continue the onslaught. “You seem a bit slow today after your nap. Want a time out to get warmed up?”

“Your swings feel especially desperate today,” he counters. “Is this flailing the best that the “Hundred Sword Kid” can muster? If so it seems you've been overestimated.”

Duck! Comes the loud mental warning. In an instant you drop low despite your eyes telling you that Aizen is striking a downward blow from in front. Behind you!

You turn and slash horizontally, as if at the thighs of an unseen enemy who had been standing behind you. Missed, left shoulder!

Rangiku... of course. She can use the ashes of Haineko's blade, a Bankai that Aizen doesn't know about, to sense where Aizen's physical body is and warn you about his true whereabouts and the attacks he's chosen. By calling out the target he's going for you can imagine how a swordsman using the typical Jigen-ryū the he's always favored would attack that target and respond.

A highly-trained swordsman may instinctively follow his own senses even if he knows they can't be trusted, but if there's one thing in this world that you trust more than your eyes...
>1/2

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>>2845691
Right hip!

Left shoulder!

Backstep!

Head!

Head!

Thrust!

Each attack Aizen initiates you're warned about with only an instant to spare, prolonging a fight that by all rights should have been over from the moment Rangiku had to involve herself. But so long as you can hear her voice, you can stay half a step ahead of your enemy.

“I see you've found a way to fight me,” you hear Aizen's voice... you only choose not to attack because you have no way to know if the spot where you hear his voice coming from is where he actually is. “Clever, Gin. Very clever. But how much can you achieve, fighting like this? Is this truly the extent of your plans?”

“You should worry about yourself more, Sōsuke,” you grunt, sidestepping again at Rangiku's urging. “I'm startin' to think you've got an unhealthy fixation on me here, and it's really startin' to freak me out.”

>Try to signal to Rangiku that you want to make a counterattack.
>Signal to Rangiku that you want her to make an attack while you have his focus.
>Continue this dance, let him think he's figured it out and attack Rangiku so she can counterattack.
>Other?

>>2845708
>>Signal to Rangiku that you want her to make an attack while you have his focus.

>>2845708
>>Signal to Rangiku that you want her to make an attack while you have his focus.

>>2845708
>>Signal to Rangiku that you want her to make an attack while you have his focus.

>>2845708
>Continue this dance, let him think he's figured it out and attack Rangiku so she can counterattack.

>>2845708
>Continue this dance, let him think he's figured it out and attack Rangiku so she can counterattack.

>>2845708
>>Continue this dance, let him think he's figured it out and attack Rangiku so she can counterattack.

Inari no Okami only knows how we would communicate this plan, but what if we took the inevitable attempt from Aizen of getting us to stab Rangiku and used one of her bankai's properties to maximum effect: the multiplying clones thing. Aizen gets Gin to attack Rangiku, woops: suddenly Rangikus everywhere. If I recall correctly, her bankai is hard to handle if you attack the fake. That was the theme.

As an added bonus, could issue a seemingly hubristic challenge that he is incapable of using his bankai to do such a thing, no matter how much he wants to. Now he either has to prove Gin wrong or accept that he got one over on him. Aizen is confident. He might just do it. Regardless, trying to change the rules is the way to go if we can get Aizen to play ball.

>>2846876
>his bankai
Should read shikai.

>>2845708
>>Continue this dance, let him think he's figured it out and attack Rangiku so she can counterattack.

Rolled 10, 9, 3, 6 = 28 (4d10)

>>2845708
>3d10, best of three
>DC 19, critical 25

Rolled 1, 10, 2 = 13 (3d10)

>>2847667

Rolled 2, 4, 9 = 15 (3d10)

>>2847667

Rolled 6, 5, 10 = 21 (3d10)

>>2847667

Rolled 3, 6, 8 = 17 (3d10)

>>2847667

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>>2847667
Rangiku is the one who's actually in control of things right now, directing you where you need to be and making sure that Aizen can't lure you into doing something stupid that serves his own interests. So she must also realize by now that she's going to need to be the one to make the plan.

Wait for it.

You continue listening to her silent instructions, the alien sensation of dodging apparently nonexistent attacks and taking what seem to be fatal blows never really becoming any less disconcerting. But Rangiku can even give you a few a few hints for when it's safe to attack.

“Aizen, you bastard!” you hear Gerard roar after one such thrust using Butō. “You dodged that on purpose!”

A few moments later, you hear another warning from Rangiku. Wait for it.

“I see,” Aizen's voice greets your ears. “So that was how you were doing it after all? After narrowing down the possibilities the most obvious explanation is the correct one after all.”

“You always did have a soft spot for women, Gin.”

Your immediate instinct is to attack, but you fight that back even before you hear Rangiku confirm that she's not in any immediate danger. Wait... use Kamishini no Yari...

NOW!

“Kill him,” you declare, snapping your fingers once instead of pointing or touching your victim like you'd normally do. “Kamishini no Yari.”

In an instant the image of Aizen flickers, like he's being shown to you on an old VHS that's having problems displaying him clearly. Then you spy him standing near Rangiku, whose glittering silvery sword has partly dispersed into dust as the dust from Kamishini no Yari released its potent cytotoxin.

Aizen's chest is mostly gone.

Several images of Rangiku shimmer and buckle... so she used that trick, did she? Illusions to counter the would-be master of illusions, like out-playing a stage magician at his own show. And between the two of you, it appears to have worked.

Did... did we really just... you hear Rangiku's voice inside your head as you make eye contact, the shock clear in her expression.

>Turn your attention to Gerard, capitalize on this shocking change of events and help out your comrades.
>Engage that Amagai character. You have a bad feeling about the experiments Aizen must have done on him.
>Continue attacking Aizen's body. Until he's ATOMS you won't truly be satisfied that any of this is real.
>Delay. Don't take any action until you can figure out what's real.

>>2847793
>>Turn your attention to Gerard, capitalize on this shocking change of events and help out your comrades.

>>2847793
>>Delay. Don't take any action until you can figure out what's real.
I'm paranoid, and I'd rather be cautious.

>>2847793
>>Continue attacking Aizen's body. Until he's ATOMS you won't truly be satisfied that any of this is real.

>>2847793
>Continue attacking Aizen's body. Until he's ATOMS you won't truly be satisfied that any of this is real.

>>2847793
>Continue attacking Aizen's body. Until he's ATOMS you won't truly be satisfied that any of this is real.

>>2847793
>Ok Sousuke, olly olly oxen free

>>2847793
>>Continue attacking Aizen's body. Until he's ATOMS you won't truly be satisfied that any of this is real.

>>2847793
>Continue attacking Aizen's body. Until he's ATOMS you won't truly be satisfied that any of this is real.

>>2847793
>Engage that Amagai character. You have a bad feeling about the experiments Aizen must have done on him.

>>2847793
>3d10, best of three

Rolled 5, 5, 3 = 13 (3d10)

>>2849764

Rolled 8, 5, 6 = 19 (3d10)

>>2849764

Rolled 6, 1, 5 = 12 (3d10)

>>2849764

Uh oh

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>>2849764
You're not entirely satisfied with that.

“Butō.”

Shinsō extends and retracts with lightning speed, the impact pushing Aizen's corpse an inch or two across the ground.

“Gin,” Rangiku mutters quietly as she joins you at the spot where you've stood since Aizen went down.

“Butō Renjin.”

A stream of sword-points impales Aizen in rapid succession, each one pushing the corpse a little bit further across the ground leaving a smear of blood behind it.

“Gin, that's enough,” Rangiku insists quietly. “He's done...”

>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uc5wxO8NEo8

Even as the words leave her mouth, her eyes narrow as she feels the same thing you do. A spire of dark, midnight-purple reiatsu pours out of Aizen's body, rising high into the stormy skies above... even though it pierces a hole through the clouds everything around you only grows darker somehow, like a shadow has been cast across the sun itself.

The corpse begins to stir.

Your eyes widen as you realize what this must be. “It can't...”

“What is this, Gin?” Rangiku demands, staring at you in a state of near-panic. “He was dead... just a moment ago he was dead! So why is such a reiatsu... I've never felt anything like it.”

“The hōgyoku,” you state, watching helplessly as the transformation takes its course. “He must have fused himself with it... but last I ever heard of it he was still missin' the one that was in Third Seat Kuchiki. I thought he needed it.”

“No,” a disturbingly familiar voice replies as Aizen rises to his feet. “Gin, you poor foolish thing... you really thought I was using Yhwach's reiatsu for myself this whole time?”

“No, that would be a criminal misuse of a precious resource.”

The column dissipates with a rolling thunderwave, as Aizen shows himself in a new form. Like a bug in a cocoon of silk.

>This is bad. Your only option is retreat.
>Get to Hachi. Hachi's kidō can solve this.
>... someone needs to hold the line until Riku gets back.
>Other?

>>2849935
>>... someone needs to hold the line until Riku gets back.
>>2849935
WELL SHIT. Somebody needs to step up and take a hit to see what Aizen is now capable of.

>>2849935
>>... someone needs to hold the line until Riku gets back.

>>2849935
>>Get to Hachi. Hachi's kidō can solve this.

>>2849935
>... someone needs to hold the line until Riku gets back.

>>2849935
>retreat
i don’t want our adoptive kids to die instantly

>>2849935
>... someone needs to hold the line until Riku gets back.

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>>2849935

>>2849935
>This is bad. Your only option is retreat.
AHHHHH

>>2849935
>>... someone needs to hold the line until Riku gets back.

>>2849935
There's really only one option here... to try as best you can to hold out until Riku arrives.

Aizen would already be considered skilled and powerful even without the additional advantage Kyōka Suigetsu gives him in terms of information manipulation, and now he apparently has high-speed regeneration that puts any arrancar you've ever seen to shame. All because of the Hōgyoku, which you can't actually see on or within his person.

An arrow slams into him from behind, the point protruding from his chest. He simply grasps it with one white hand and pulls it the rest of the way through his body, tossing it aside.

He simply takes a barrage of reishi bombs that explode when they touch him, the near-misses obscuring him with a cloud of mist from the rainfall. Then Captain Fēng is thrown bodily from the cloud after trying to use it to obscure an attack, which Aizen countered by catching her wrist and slinging her into a nearby cinderblock wall.

The mist dissipates, revealing a pristine white being in the shape of a man, who hasn't obviously been hit.

“It's only a matter of time,” Aizen muses.

“Like hell it is!” Hirako Shinji roars, trying to attack his former Lieutenant using the advantage of his shikai's mild hallucinogen.

It doesn't work.

Aizen simply takes the sword through his chest, grabs the protruding blade, and places his fingertips against Shinji's shoulder. “Byakurai.”

A second arrow lodges in his neck, which he removes and immediately stabs into Hiyori's back after effortlessly sidestepping her furious attack.

Nothing... absolutely nothing is working against him. Not ceros, not kidō, not reishi bombs. Nobody can even get close enough to try hakuda or zanjutsu but somehow you doubt either of those would be terribly effective either.

>Ichimaru
>Matsumoto
>Halibel

>>2852176
>Halibel

>>2852176
>Tia

>>2852176
>>Halibel

>>2852176
>>Halibel

>Halibel selected
>writing

>>2852176
You are Tia Halibel, an arrancar and personal friend to the shinigami Captain Kusajishi Riku. And if anyone has been under the impression that you've spent all this time simply lying around lazily, they're seriously mistaken.

No, what you've done is build up the storm raging above the fake Karakura town into something self-sustaining, with powerful winds and driving rain. Lightning splits the sky, and thunder echoes through the ruins.

It had previously been your intent to use this power to defeat the Sternritter, but that seems like a secondary consideration now that Aizen has broken free. This is the same Captain-class shinigami who fought both Lady Riku and Lady Yoruichi to a standstill even before he began showcasing these more exotic abilities which allowed him to survive fighting against Ichimaru Gin and Miss Rangiku.

That leaves you uncertain what avenue would most likely bring you success.

>Get in close with your heavy blade: see what's going on inside that cocoon of his.
>Use Tiburon's specialties, try to crush him in ways that are hard to regenerate.
>Try to use the natural elements in your favor by guiding lightning into Aizen's body.
>Other?

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>>2852254
Had intended to post this to mark the perspective change.

>>2852254
>try and start a tornado

>>2852254
>>Use Tiburon's specialties, try to crush him in ways that are hard to regenerate.

>>2852254
>Try to use the natural elements in your favor by guiding lightning into Aizen's body.

>>2852254
>>Try to use the natural elements in your favor by guiding lightning into Aizen's body.

>>2852254
>>Use Tiburon's specialties, try to crush him in ways that are hard to regenerate.

>3d10, best of three
>DC 17, critical 24

Rolled 1, 9, 1 = 11 (3d10)

>>2852316

Rolled 10, 9, 5 = 24 (3d10)

>>2852316

>>2852318
niceu

Rolled 5, 8, 1 = 14 (3d10)

>>2852316
Shit, wrong dice

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>>2852318
Noice!

So forgive me if this is obvious, where the hell is Starrk?

He's been absent for a while

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>>2852318
You've made your decision: you plan to use nature itself to destroy these unnatural foes.

“I was having a nice nap,” you muse quietly after approaching Aizen with a sonidō. “Before you interrupted me.”

“An arrancar, at this late stage?” Aizen replies calmly from within his white cocoon. “I had not imagined it... though I must admit it seems Kusajishi's creations have proven much more resilient than my own.”

“I am no one's creation,” you assert. “And even if it is not by my hand, it is my belief you will suffer for your arrogance Aizen Sōsuke.”

Just a little while longer.

“And who do you believe will bring this about, if not yourself?”

“I believe we both know the answer to that,” you shake your head.

The wind is building up with the warm, moisture-laden updraft, the entire cloud mass seems to be turning now.

“Well, now that we've exchanged pleasantries,” Aizen turns to face you, “shall we begin?”

“Yes,” you agree. “I think the time is right.”

The quality of the light has slowly changed, the winds have built up and the bottom layer of cloud has descended in a rapidly-rotating mass. That mass extends and narrows, like a dark, spinning funnel, rotating faster and faster beyond anything that could be possible in nature.

Aizen turns. “What is this?”

“This is my zanpakuto, Tiburon,” you declare. “I don't know that this will work, but I do know one thing.”

“You should not have spent so much time with pleasantries.”

The tornado hits Gerard first, lifting him bodily and tossing him aside like a child would discard an unwanted toy. His smaller companion finds himself pulled towards the funnel cloud by a glowing cord of kidō, courtesy of Captain Fēng. A rain of explosive blasts batters the Sternritter, before his bloodied body is also thrown aside several hundred feet up the tornado's body.

“Weather manipulation,” Aizen muses. “Fascinating... and how do you intend to...”

“Like this!” a familiar voice roars.

You charge a cero along the length of Tiburon's blade, and your attack joins with a scattering burst of ceros from Apacci's horns and blades.
>1/2

Damn, that is hype as fuck. Yeah, Halibel is definitely powerful, but this just absolutely sells it for me.

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>>2852402
This, this is what awsome!

>>2852402
The combined force of the blasts knocks Aizen back, and the arcing cero you launched at him pushes him straight into the roaring tornado. The winds tear at his body and spin him uncontrollably, but you're already thinking one step ahead. Lightning flashes, hitting Tiburon's broad blade and lighting it up in a wild blur of dancing arcs.

When Aizen is ejected from the tornado, you're waiting with Tiburon held high, and you bring its electrified mass down on him.

The fall is momentous.

“How the hell is he still alive?” Apacci gasps as Aizen simply gets back up even after that furious assault with the full power of nature's wrath. “There's no way. There's just no way!”

But you see it from where you stand watching.

“That's no cocoon,” you realize aloud. “His body is not being transformed, it's being restructured.”

“Correct,” Aizen acknowledges you as he rises skyward. “You're a clever one, too... Captain Kusajishi doesn't deserve you.”

“I don't get it,” Apacci admits.

“The reishi which makes up his body has been broken down and sealed within that white shell,” you explain. “Right now his body has been totally deconstructed... he has no form to harm.”

“That's insane,” Apacci stares in shock.

>But he's also vulnerable. We have to destroy his shell before the Sternritter can rally.
>I doubt we can do anything until his restructuring is complete. We should conserve energy.
>We... can't defeat this monster here. But I do have a way to keep anyone else from dying.
>Other?

>>2852443
>>But he's also vulnerable. We have to destroy his shell before the Sternritter can rally.

>>2852443
>>But he's also vulnerable. We have to destroy his shell before the Sternritter can rally.

>>2852443
>But he's also vulnerable. We have to destroy his shell before the Sternritter can rally.

>>2852443
>>But he's also vulnerable. We have to destroy his shell before the Sternritter can rally.

also, where's coyote man

>>2852487
Second line of defense/reserves, in the Soul Society.

Not placing everyone in the living world means that surprise conceptual power bullshit can't wipe out everyone all at once.

Aight, seems pretty clear what people want. I have to step out and take care of something real quick.

>>2852574
“However,” you realize, “this also leaves him vulnerable. He's counting on that shell to keep his reishi concentrated.”

“So if we destroy the shell,” Apacci catches on, “we disperse his reishi... and he dies?”

“That may be the case,” you nod. “If so, then we win. If not, we will have significantly delayed until such time as Lady Riku can return.”

“Then I'm all for it!” Apacci sets her brow in determination. Were it not for the fact that your hand might strip the flesh from her scalp in your current form you might have ruffled her hair...

>3d10, best of three
>DC is 24

Rolled 1, 6, 4 = 11 (3d10)

>>2852688

Rolled 1, 6, 1 = 8 (3d10)

>>2852688

Rolled 9, 10, 3 = 22 (3d10)

>>2852688

>>2852688
And when I consider it you should get 4 rolls. So you're good for one more.

Rolled 3, 7, 3 = 13 (3d10)

>>2852688

>>2852699
Dang

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>>2852734
Sorry

>>2852737
It's alright, you were still the highest roll.

>>2852688
Apacci is the first to start giving it her all. As the Sternritters are still recovering she unleashes an almost frightening barrage of cero and bala of all sorts of colors and at every conceivable speed, almost impossible to dodge. Bambietta joins in, raining explosions down with great sweeping wingbeats that lift her body a little higher into the air with each successive wave. Even the other onlooking shinigami start to join in, dropping iron pillars from on high and firing wicked daggers of glowing reishi into the roiling series of blasts.

You deliver what you hope to be the final blow... a Cascada with the mass of several Olympic swimming pools behind it. Nothing that draws breath should be able to survive the overwhelming surge of water, which shatters then washes away the fake Karakura town around its point of landfall.

When the water clears it has scoured the cityscape clean to the dirt for several blocks, all but for a square around where Aizen's broken and burned shell lies still.

Then he gets back up.

Dark, purple reishi piles back into the battered white form, and the body quickly begins repairing itself... like watching an eggshell crack in reverse.

“Nice try.”
>3d10, best of four

Rolled 5, 3, 8 = 16 (3d10)

>>2852820
ROLL HIGH OR DIE TIME.

Rolled 3, 4, 6 = 13 (3d10)

>>2852820

Rolled 9, 2, 10 = 21 (3d10)

>>2852820

Rolled 1, 9, 7 = 17 (3d10)

>>2852820
oh god here we go

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I swear, these dice are gonna give me heart palpitations.

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>>2852820
It doesn't take long.

Once Aizen gets moving his speed and the sharpness of his swings is overwhelming, and the fact of the matter is that too many of the remaining warriors have blown so much of what little energy they had left. They were in no position to mount an effective resistance any more, not against these three foes.

Not even the Lieutenants escaped being crushed.

Not even you.

But that doesn't mean this is the end.

As you lay face-down in the rain, you can feel the reason for your having held back, just a little, at work.

The shinigami call it kaidō.

The rainfall from the massive storm of your creation begins slowly washing away the wounds and restoring the reiatsu of the fallen Gotei 13 fighters. There's even enough left to begin your own slow pathway to recovery from the deep wound across your abdomen.

Aizen and his remaining vanguard have left.

But it could have been so much worse.

And at least now that Kisuke has had a chance to see the three enemies coming his way in action. Hopefully, that will make a difference.

In the mean time... you'll just have to continue doing what you can.
>1/2

>tfw Tia's storm also casts "Healing rain"
Such good feels, that one silver lining. yet it's all the more bitter that we could've ended it all. DC 24 was an achievable one too.

>>2852876
You are Kusajishi Riku, and the way is finally clear.

“So you made good on your word,” you greet Kurotsuchi as he returns with Masaki and Kanae, still in heavy manacles. “I'm a little surprised.”

“You shouldn't be,” Kurotsuchi sighs dramatically, picking open the locks. “I already explained it all to you once. What, are you stupid?”

“Just not very trusting,” you admit. “Are you two okay?”

Masaki rubs her wrists, giving the former Captain a glare. “Fine. You came after the kids?”

“We did,” Yoruichi nods sternly. “And we should be returning to the living world.”

“Why is that?” Kanae asks.

“That's where the fighting will be,” you explain. “It may not be a bad idea for all of you to stay here. The sort of fight we're expecting is no place for any of you to be.”

“How can you say that?” Masaki demands angrily. “You're talking about our home!”

“We've made significant preparations,” you counter. “Masaki, I'm serious... the kids and Lieutenants we chased here are exhausted, and someone needs to stay here with them. So that means you two.”

“And where will you go?” Ichigo asks, staring at you patiently from where he's found a low stone bench to sit on and catch a brief rest for the first time since he came here.

>We'll head for the living world, for the fake Karakura town.
>We'll head to the Soul Society. Contact Kisuke there.
>We'll split up. I go to Karakura, Yoruichi goes to the Soul Society.
>We'll split up. I go to the Soul Society, Yoruichi goes to Karakura.
>Other?

Rolled 4, 7, 8 = 19 (3d10)

>>2852897
>We'll split up. I go to Karakura, Yoruichi goes to the Soul Society.

>>2852897
>>We'll split up. I go to Karakura, Yoruichi goes to the Soul Society.

>>2852897
>>We'll head to the Soul Society. Contact Kisuke there.

>>2852897
>We'll head to the Soul Society. Contact Kisuke there.
Question: Did the on-field medical division survive and remained hidden?

>>2852897
>We'll head to the Soul Society. Contact Kisuke there.

>>2852897
>>We'll split up. I go to Karakura, Yoruichi goes to the Soul Society.

>>2852897
>>>We'll split up. I go to Karakura, Yoruichi goes to the Soul Society.