>>3021496
“And so that is the present situation,” Inari eventually concludes, after recounting about a hundred years of your own history prior to the event which took you back in time. “How is your memory?”

“Better than it was,” you sigh. “I remember my family, most of the pasts of my three constituent souls, my duties as a Captain. There are a few details that still have not returned but nothing important.”

You glance back up at the moon, now full and whole. “To think that all this time... I wonder if I should tell Halibel first or spring it on Apacci and the rest.”

“Perhaps tell Halibel first so that she can enjoy the reaction as well?” Inari suggests.

You can't help but share a laugh. “Yes, and twice the entertainment for myself as well!”

After you're done laughing, Inari's expression turns serious. “Unfortunately, there is something else that I must tell you. Something I have been quietly piecing together in the last few hundred years.”

“About that,” you sigh. “I take it everything went according to plan?”

“If by that you mean to ask did I have my daughter killed, then you should realize the answer for yourself,” Inari replies calmly. “I have had many years to come to terms with it, though seeing happiness come of it made that easier as well.”

The fuzzy feeling in some of your memories... would that be the effects of time 'catching up' with you? Your own awareness somehow synchronizing with the current reality?

“I suppose I will have to determine what if anything has changed later,” you grumble. “So, you were saying something about having 'pieced together' some new detail?”

“I did,” Inari nods quietly. “Listen closely...”
>2/3

>>3021496
>FOR THOUSANDS OF YEARS I LAY DORMANT, WHO HAS DISTURBED MY- Oh its you mom.
hi

>>3021499
You are Shihōin Yoruichi, and after a somewhat protracted series of fights you have finally found yourself in a position to fight Aizen Sōsuke himself.

“It's been a while, Aizen,” you greet him. “Have you done something with your hair?”

Aizen, whose blade has left deep slashes across both of Captain Unohana's thighs, takes a moment to turn towards you. “I see you have defeated Askin Nakk le Varr as well.”

“You sound surprised.”

“I'm not,” Aizen admits with a shrug. “The only surprise is how ineffective he was, in the end. What a waste of his ability and my time.”

“Good grief,” Kisuke interjects, stepping out from behind a wall with his own zanpakutō drawn. “It's that attitude towards others that's gotten people so mad at you, Mister Aizen.”

“Urahara Kisuke,” Aizen muses, almost as if greeting an old friend. “The uniform always did look good on you. How have you been?”

“Pretty good,” he replies, stretching his neck. “I've had plenty to keep me busy... you have no idea how boring running a candy shop gets after a few decades.”

“No,” Aizen grants the point. “No, I suppose I wouldn't. You have heard the news, of course?”

>What news would that be, Aizen?
>That Riku is missing? Yeah, not impressed.
>That you decided to kill yourself and save us the trouble?
>Other?

>>3021524
>What news would that be, Aizen?
>That Riku is missing? Yeah, not impressed.
Making my day newsboy, making my day.

>>3021524
>That you decided to kill yourself and save us the trouble?

>>3021524
>What news would that be, Aizen?
>That Riku is missing? Yeah, not impressed.
>If I have to repeat myself with what I said to Askin I will be severely annoyed about how you grabbed the idiot ball along with that plot rock.

>>3021524
>>What news would that be, Aizen?

>That you decided to kill yourself and save us the trouble?
>That you've finally started to get therapy for your tea addiction?
>Yes I have, but did you hear the news about gin serving all of your best tea to the Royal Guard, but only after filling the tea with sugar?

>>3021567
>>3021524
Yes to the tea addiction

>>3021524
>>What news would that be, Aizen?
>>That Riku is missing? Yeah, not impressed.
>Yes I have, but did you hear the news about gin serving all of your best tea to the Royal Guard, but only after filling the tea with sugar?

>>3021524
“And what news would that be, Aizen?” you scoff. “That you finally decided to start taking your caffeine addiction seriously? Ugly thing in a man, addiction.”

Aizen narrows his eyes, clearly unamused. “That Captain Kusajishi Riku has gone missing.”

You roll your eyes at the second mention of the purported loss of your wife. “Listen, you find me a body and I'll start grieving, not a minute before.”

“If she has gone missing in the Dangai, odds are very good that you will never see her again,” Aizen declares, staring you coldly in the eyes. “Even if she has survived.”

“Listen,” you counter. “I'm not your friend. So it's none of your damned business.”

“Oh, quite to the contrary!” Aizen insists. “Where Captain Yamamoto represented the Soul Society's past, Captain Kusajishi represented its future, at least the alternative future to my own. And now I find myself deprived of both of the two individuals who I had most wanted to destroy.”

“This day has been a terrible disappointment,” he concludes. “First Ichimaru fails, then Kusajishi disappears, and now the three of you stand in my way.”

“Your day still has time to get worse,” Unohana warns him as her thighs sizzle and steam, healing rapidly. “So mind your words carefully, boy.”

“And you may be the biggest disappointment short of the Kusajishi fiasco!” Aizen snaps. “You were supposed to be some sort of monster... but it turns out too many centuries have made you tame, domesticated even.”

“You will regret those words,” Unohana growls.

>Unohana, please see to the wounded. Kisuke and I can handle this.
>I'll need all three of your help. We need to overwhelm him.
>I'll take him myself. You two support me with kidō as you see fit.
>Other?

>>3021612
>I'll take him myself. You two support me with kidō as you see fit.

Kisuke can study him, and unohana can heal up the others, THEN join.

>>3021620
>>3021612
good idea, supporting

>>3021612
>Unohana, please see to the wounded. Kisuke and I can handle this.

>>3021612
>Unohana, please see to the wounded.
>Kisuke, remember back when we were troublemakers? Lets have some fun with this idiot.

>>3021620
supporting this anon

>>3021612
>>3021620
supportin'

>>3021612
“I'll take him myself,” you declare. “Captain Unohana, Captain Urahara... you two support me with kidō as you see fit.”

>Take off your haori, this is too close to a personal fight.
>Leave your haori on, this isn't personal... yet.

>>3021679
>Leave your haori on, this isn't personal... yet.

>>3021679
>Leave your haori on, this isn't personal... yet.

>>3021679
>Leave your haori on, this isn't personal... yet.

>>3021679
>>Leave your haori on, this isn't personal... yet.

>>3021679
>>Leave your haori on, this isn't personal... yet.

>>3021679
>Leave your haori on, this isn't personal... yet.

>3d10, DC 18, critical 27
>best of three

Rolled 7, 4, 1 = 12 (3d10)

>>3021714
inb4 fail

Rolled 3, 7, 1 = 11 (3d10)

>>3021714
come on and slam

Rolled 4, 1, 8 = 13 (3d10)

>>3021714

Well fuck

>>3021717
>>3021722
>>3021726
This doesn’t bode well...

>>3021714
Aizen is one man. One very powerful man to be certain, but you've dealt with your fair share of those and then some. And you're not alone however, you've got a three to one advantage. Perhaps it's a little presumptuous to take him on yourself, but with Unohana and Kisuke as your backup that should make it possible.

For that matter, Kisuke's better off being on support anyway. Unlike Shōsōtō his analytical skills don't actually benefit from being locked in direct combat.

“You mean to fight me yourself?” Aizen muses as Unohana and Kisuke reposition themselves. “Rather daring, but are you sure that this is befitting the Commander of the Onmitsukidō?”

“What, dealing with criminals?” you chuckle. “Never anything wrong with that.”

You lead with a strong left jab towards Aizen's jaw, which he simply takes. In exchange he draws his sword in a fraction of a second, leaving a deep gash across your torso. Wincing in pain you take a half step out of his reach, marveling at how easily he cut you. He's faster than you remember him being, and his reiatsu is still impressive even considering how much stronger you've grown yourself.

“You've improved...” you grumble.

“I have evolved,” Aizen contends.

Your second punch is blocked by his blade, and he turns in place to strike at your ribs with a kick.
>3d10, DC 18, crit 26
>best of three

Rolled 5, 1, 7 = 13 (3d10)

>>3021817

Rolled 9, 10, 10 = 29 (3d10)

>>3021817

Rolled 9, 4, 7 = 20 (3d10)

>>3021823
jesus fucking christ

>>3021817

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

>>3021817
Why did Riku not train for the whole 600 years, only until she got to 8.5 tails? I feel like I missed that explanation if there was one.

>>3021826

cause she would have aged and from a pure causality point we need the hole in the moon where it is

>>3021826
>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_dkkHni3H4Q

>>3021826
If Riku hits 9 tails, she becomes fully divine and gets locked out of interacting with the mortal planes, interacting with the mortal planes would incite the wrath of the Royal Guard. So Riku and Inari did a drastic measure by setting a hard power cap at 8,5 tails. That way Riku can still access a *significant* portion of her divine power and still be able to fuck around in the world of the living.

File: 70077277_p0.png (2.54 MB, 1771x1254)

2.54 MB PNG

>>3021817
You immediately amplify the lightning around your right wrist, hardening it against the incoming blow. Then a thought occurs to you... instead of trying to stop or redirect the swing, you take a step past Aizen and leave an afterimage. Instead you strike at the back of his neck with your elbow, the blow meeting a hard surface that seems to shatter slightly under the force.

Aizen shifts his stance and swings at you again, but you've already stepped away.

“It's only natural that I would take precautions,” Aizen muses, leveling his blade at you. “Your fault for striking at such an obvious target.”

“And it's only natural that I would notice,” you reply with a wicked grin. “You're not using your Kyōka Suigetsu. You could have ended your fight against Captain Unohana in the same way, but you didn't.”

“I simply do not feel the need,” Aizen lies through his teeth, though you wouldn't know it based on the way he speaks. The man has no 'tells' to speak of. “Instead, I am saving that ability for when it will be most useful.”

“I have another hypothesis,” you muse, narrowing your eyes. “You did say something about 'evolving', right? Well, I happen to know a little bit about how the balance between a zanpakutō and its wielder works.”

“Your words won't fool me.”

Aizen scowls at you. “Is that so?”

“It is,” you declare firmly. “And on top of that I've realized something else: you're not actually faster than I am, even now. It's much closer, but you had to wait to counterattack until I was committed. I still have ever so slight of an edge on you.”

Unsurprisingly, Aizen simply laughs at your declarations... but importantly, doesn't deny them. “Nothing escapes your notice, you clever cat-monster. But can you follow through with that wound?”

>It's already stopped bleeding (lie).
>It won't matter. I already know how to beat you.
>No, but it won't be a problem for long (switch with Kisuke)
>Other?

>>3021903
>>It won't matter. I already know how to beat you.

>>3021903
>>It won't matter. I already know how to beat you.
>>No, but it won't be a problem for long (switch with Kisuke)

>>3021903
>No, but it won't be a problem for long (switch with Kisuke)
Lets have her switch out, patch up, and pick something we can hit him with ONCE and make it count.

>>3021903
>>No, but it won't be a problem for long (switch with Kisuke)

>>3021910
i just noticed my choice seems contradictory, i forgo the first part and just vote for switching with kisuke
>>3021903

>>3021903
>It won't matter. I already know how to beat you.

>Riku's fw she comes back ready to kick ass only for Yoruichi to be standing over Aizen's beaten corpse.

>>3021903
>No, but it won't be a problem for long (switch with Kisuke)
i think i used up all my luck, so

>>3021903
>No, but it won't be a problem for long (switch with Kisuke)

>>3021903
>It won't matter. I already know how to beat you.

irl calls, I'll write when I get free again. Shouldn't be more than 15-20 minutes.

Rolled 1, 7, 5, 6 = 19 (4d10)

>3d10, best of three

Rolled 10, 2, 6 = 18 (3d10)

>>3021982

Rolled 9, 3, 6 = 18 (3d10)

>>3021982

Rolled 6, 7, 8 = 21 (3d10)

>>3021982

>>3021982
You are Urahara Kisuke.

Yoruichi used to say you were a man of 'few skills but many uses'... and she had a point, of course. She usually does, but in this case you also think she's giving you too much credit. Really, you only have one skill: observation.

It all boils down to that. You're observant.

That's how you've learned so much about the scientific method, it's how you discerned over the years which 'laws' that apply in the living world are also applicable here in the Soul Society, and it's how you started figuring out the laws of the Soul Society that are unique to the spiritual realm. You observe, you remember, and you apply. It's your only skill, it's your only real interest, and the greatest day in your life was when Yoruichi finally decided to just let you do it freely.

You've seen so many interesting things and met so many interesting people because of her decision to simply let you loose, and you've never forgotten to be grateful for that.

“Sing, Benihime.”

A red plane of compressed reiatsu, not unlike cero in its structure, erupts from your blade and slices through the ground towards Aizen as Yoruichi withdraws and he gives chase. It stops him for just a moment, but that moment is all that's necessary.

“Thanks,” she chuckles, snatching the tiny vial of regenerative serum from the air as you pass her by with a shunpō.

That ought to fix her up... unlike Mayuri's regenerative serum this formulation simply increases the natural healing rate of an arrancar, including those who were originally shinigami such as Yoruichi and Riku. And it's precisely because it's not useful to anyone else that you've chosen not to mention its development at all outside the Research Institute.

All that political nonsense would just mean annoying questions and a return of your old nemesis: paperwork.

“So, Aizen,” you greet the former Captain. “We meet again at last. This time I'll be sure not to underestimate you.”

“You've had plenty of time to come up with a plan, Urahara Kisuke,” Aizen replies.

“I see you've used the Hōgyoku,” you press. “Interesting choice.”

“You fail to understand it of course,” Aizen shakes his head. “No one is using anyone here.”

>Oh, I think you'll find that's not the case.
>Attack using Benihime and hadō together.
>Use Benihime defensively, attack with hadō.
>Other?

>>3022036
>>Use Benihime defensively, attack with hadō.

>>3022036
>Oh, I think you'll find that's not the case.

>>3022036
>>Oh, I think you'll find that's not the case.

god i just love this setup, the 2 smartest shinigami alive duking it out, this is gonna be interesting

>>3022036
>>Oh, I think you'll find that's not the case.

>>3022036

>Oh, I think you'll find that's not the case.

>3d10
>dc18
>best of three
>no crit

Rolled 9, 3, 6 = 18 (3d10)

>>3022101

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

>>3022101

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

>>3022101

let me prepare my asspull

>>3022102
by the skin of our teeth

>>3022117
the best kind of skin

>>3022125
>>3022117
with no room on that roll, i assume there is no skin left

>>3022117
>>3022125
>>3022126
Yeah, didn't really want to do an asspull with my teeth.

>>3022128
if that was from your own ass, ... that would be real impressive. 'people might pay money' impressive

File: 1455116493356.jpg (121 KB, 494x485)

121 KB JPG

>>3022101
“I think you'll find that's not the case,” you warn him.

“What you see before you is symbiosis,” Aizen retorts. “That you fail to understand that is not surprising.”

“With the Hōgyoku?” you muse. “I see. So that's what you did... but to what end, I wonder?”

“That is for me to know,” he declares, slashing through your torso with a loud pop.

The decoy is totally destroyed, and Aizen is suitably taken aback by it.

“What was...”

“That was dangerous!” you protest, having relocated. “But since you took the time, how was it? Did it really feel like you were cutting into me? Did it fool you?”

“To use such tricks at this stage in the game,” Aizen growls. “Do you mean to make a mockery of me, Urahara Kisuke?”

“Please, it's just Kisuke to my friends,” you sigh, lowering the brim of your hat with your free hand. “So to you it's 'Captain Urahara', if you would be so kind.”

He extends his hand. “Bakudō 63: Sajō Sabaku.”

You mirror the attack perfectly. “Bakudō 63: Sajō Sabaku.”

The golden chains of kidō collide between you, shattering and flaking away where they meet in a sparkling cloud as you and your opponent both move. Aizen is the first to attack again.

“Raikōkō.”

“Sing, Benihime!”

You immediately raise a hexagonal 'Blood Mist Shield' to defend yourself, which takes the full force of Aizen's spell before crumbling away. As it does, you answer him again.

“Kamisori Benihime.”

A sharper wave slices through the remnants of your own shield, arcing upwards as Aizen tries to dodge by vaulting upwards. He rolls to the side, only to find you coming down at him from above with the point of your sword aimed for his face.

He raises Kyōka Suigetsu in time to sweep you aside... though at this point it may as well be nothing more than a metal pipe in his hands unworthy of the name, if Yoruichi's previous observations are correct. Which you've seen no indication that they're not.

>Try to restrict Aizen's movements, see if he can be cut and if he bleeds in this form.
>Test his other 'vital spots', see if he left anything to exploit.
>Try to bait him into using anything but basic kidō and zanjutsu, if he is capable.
>Other?

>>3022173
>>Try to bait him into using anything but basic kidō and zanjutsu, if he is capable.

>>3022173
>>Try to bait him into using anything but basic kidō and zanjutsu, if he is capable.

>>3022173
>Try to restrict Aizen's movements, see if he can be cut and if he bleeds in this form.

>>3022173
>>Try to bait him into using anything but basic kidō and zanjutsu, if he is capable.

>>3022173
>Try to bait him into using anything but basic kidō and zanjutsu, if he is capable.

>>3022173
>>Test his other 'vital spots', see if he left anything to exploit.

>time to see what Aizen has up his sleeves
>3d10, DC 18, crit 25
>best of three

Rolled 9, 8, 2 = 19 (3d10)

>>3022237

Rolled 10, 7, 2 = 19 (3d10)

>>3022237
Here we go!

Rolled 6, 4, 5 = 15 (3d10)

>>3022237

Rolled 7, 2, 5 = 14 (3d10)

>>3022237

>>3022237
You make it a point to force him to fight on the defensive, putting pressure on him using Benihime's simpler repertoire and the odd hadō, but for a while you don't feel like you're making much progress towards getting him to tip his hand. This is one possibility that you haven't considered, that he'd simply refuse to demonstrate any particularly special abilities.

Eventually you have to consider the possibility that this new 'evolution' of his hasn't given him any new offensive abilities. You can't even get a good feel on whether he's gained rapid healing or any other unusual traits unless you can land a hit on him.

“I tire of this,” Aizen informs you. “To think I once regarded your intellect so highly.”

He lunges with incredible speed, an attack which you parry... only to find the fingers of his left hand extended forward towards you.

This may be a good opportunity for you.

“Byakurai.”
“Tsuppane.”

At the same time as Aizen casts his kido you move Benihime in a tiny circle, which completely negates his kidō and leaves him open to a thrust of your blade.

The edge bites into his right shoulder, leaving a fine red mark against his white... is it an outfit? Or is that just his body now?

“You have revealed yet another of your tricks,” Aizen observes.

“It was a trade,” you admit, watching his wound for any signs of rapid healing. While it's not bleeding as much as you might have anticipated, it doesn't seem to be healing either. “Now I've learned something from you as well.”

>Press the assault with Benihime. If he bleeds you can kill him.
>Try to bind him in place, then hit him with your best shot.
>Swap out
>Other?

>>3022324
>>Press the assault with Benihime. If he bleeds you can kill him.

>>3022324
>Swap out
We keep on playing the Roulette.

>>3022324
>>Press the assault with Benihime. If he bleeds you can kill him.

>>3022324
>Press the assault with Benihime. If he bleeds you can kill him.

>>3022324
>Try to bind him in place, then hit him with your best shot.

>>3022324
try to trick out more of his new abilites

>3d10
>dc18, crit 25
>best of three

Rolled 3, 5, 1 = 9 (3d10)

>>3022393

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

>>3022393

>>3022393
Rollin'

Rolled 5, 6, 9 = 20 (3d10)

>>3022393

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

>>3022393
>>3022393
dice pls

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

>>3022393
Fingers crossed.

>>3022395
>>3022396
>>3022398
well this bodes an ill omen.
>>3022399
Clutch m8

>>3022398
Well, I guess my typo worked out...>>3022399

>>3022398
good job
>>3022399
also good job
>>3022403
today seems to be a day of clutches

>>3022393
“Sing, Benihime.”

With yet another attack you press Aizen hard, but evidently not hard enough. His speed is ever so slightly greater than yours, and that makes it difficult. And unfortunately that means it's difficult to gauge the wisdom in putting any of your more complex schemes into play.

You can see why Captain Unohana and Yoruichi were having so much trouble with him before: even without Kyōka Suigetsu, his skills and raw power are formidable. Monstrous, even.

“Kisuke!” you hear someone shout as a foot collides with the back of your head.

“Y-yoruichi!?” you stammer, a little dizzy from the force of the blow. “What seems to be the matter?”

“Don't give me that, you lazy bastard!” Yoruichi barks. “Are you planning to actually do something to him or not?”

“I was getting to that part...” you begin to protest.

“What's there to 'get to'?” she demands. “Come on, I taught you better than that. You should be able to hit him just fine!”

“Not all of us have two zanpakutō to release, Yoruichi,” you observe.

“I'm only using the one and you know it,” Yoruichi growls mutinously. “And don't try to weasel out of it.”

“Fine, fine,” you sigh.

“And since you've been doing such a shit job, I guess I'll have to help you from here on,” Yoruichi sighs dramatically. “Consider yourself fortunate.”

“Trust me,” you smirk. “I do... mostly.”

“... what was that?”

You immediately change your tune. “I mean I'm mighty grateful, Lady Yoruichi.”

“Better...” Yoruichi begins, only to be interrupted as Aizen's blade slides right past her.

Was she always that quick on her feet?

“Now this is a battle interesting enough to fight,” Aizen muses. “Captain Shihōin Yoruichi and Captain Urahara Kisuke, I will draw out every trump card you have prepared and crush them one by one. And when you have run out of options, you will know that I have won.”

>>3022540
And we're going to have to take a stop here. Thanks for turning out, hope you had a good time, and see you next week where we pick back up.

Next week I'll probably be less distracted, so look forward to a better pace.

>>3022551
Thanks for the run

>>3022551
thanks for the run and i might forgive you for being such a tease on the riku matter

see you tomorrow

>>3022551
Omake Idea: Inari's journal entry/daily visits to a Stasis'd Inari Riku. Inari frequents to that place to "talk" to Riku and reveal her thoughts on the matter on how she is seeing History pass by.

>>3022551
riku when

>>3022600
Technically, for the last six hundred years. But I'll warn you now, Riku's segment at the start was not in its precise chronological place within the rest of the story.

>>3022679
no really riku when though

>>3023819
Next session, barring some grade-A fuckery.

>>3022679
i’m not liking the sound of that statement. that implies Riku was woken up too early or too late, and it’s usually the latter

>>3024253
I’d assume it’s more like she woke us up as soon as we “Vanished” in the Dangai, and we’ve been en route to the battlefield since then.

>>3024967
Which discounts the possibility of unforeseen delays, particularly in Inari getting to Riku in the first place.

Just saying, maybe don't put all your chips down at once.

>>3031704
she cant really so much as enter mexico until Riku's disappearance is confirmed to avoid potential paradoxes, yeah?

>continuation today

>>3038083
Riku intensifies

>>3038083
You are Shihōin Yoruichi, and this isn't how you expected this to go.

What you'd expected was to face Aizen alongside Riku, as you first did outside the Central 46 chambers during Ichigo's invasion of the Seireitei. But she's not here. You don't know where she is or what happened to her, but you don't have the luxury of being able to wait around for her to turn up. You know she will eventually regardless. Even if she's dead, it'll just be an annoyance.

Instead who you have is Kisuke. You don't have a problem with Kisuke of course, otherwise you wouldn't have had him as a Unit commander. His ability to plan things ahead is astounding, even if his dedication is often somewhat less impressive. His Bankai is also a special piece of work.

While Kisuke can certainly conceive of many possible answers to many possible situations, same as you can, it's not quite the same... Riku's skillset is almost what you might end up with had you been given the chance to design her abilities from the ground up to be as much of a middle finger to the strongest level of spiritual beings as possible.

“So, why haven't you made a move yet?” you press Kisuke as you turn a slow circle to Aizen's side. He watches you carefully, less like a wary prey animal and more like a predator watching a competing predator.

Kisuke remains in place, allowing you to work your way into a flanking position with him. “Unfortunately, between the two of us you're the one with a talent for estimating. Since I rely on testing my opponents, the more inconclusive my tests are the longer it takes to decide on a plan.”

“An interesting dynamic,” Aizen comments.

Indeed... you and Kisuke are going to have to do more than simply coordinate your moves. You're either going to have to give Kisuke what he needs or rely on him to support your own efforts, but either way one of you will have to take the lead. Otherwise your slightly conflicting approaches to combat will make presenting a truly 'unified front' all but impossible.

>You will be the “hammer” to Kisuke's “anvil”. Rely on his support to make sure your offensive techniques strike with maximum effect.
>You will serve as the “pawn”. Draw out Aizen's true abilities so that Kisuke can factor them into his own strategic planning.
>You will use your speed and power to suppress Aizen's movement and offensive ability, so that Kisuke can try one of his plans.
>Other?

>>3038498
>You will serve as the “pawn”. Draw out Aizen's true abilities so that Kisuke can factor them into his own strategic planning.
science!

>>3038498
>You will be the “hammer” to Kisuke's “anvil”. Rely on his support to make sure your offensive techniques strike with maximum effect.

>>3038498
>>You will serve as the “pawn”. Draw out Aizen's true abilities so that Kisuke can factor them into his own strategic planning.

out of everyone present, we have the best chance of coming out of anything aizen tries without much harm

>>3038498
>>You will serve as the “pawn”. Draw out Aizen's true abilities so that Kisuke can factor them into his own strategic planning.

>3d10, best of three

Rolled 3, 1, 8 = 12 (3d10)

>>3038550

Rolled 5, 2, 7 = 14 (3d10)

>>3038550

Rolled 3, 10, 6 = 19 (3d10)

>>3038550

Rolled 7, 4, 1 = 12 (3d10)

>>3038550
>QM rolling

>>3038560
KISUKE WTF ARE YOU DOING?

>>3038560
And give me one more roll, 1d10 taking the second roll.

Rolled 9 (1d10)

>>3038573

Rolled 2 (1d10)

>>3038573

>>3038550
Keeping in mind that Kisuke has claimed to be having trouble out-speeding Aizen and the fact that you have demonstrated to yourself that you can get out ahead of him, you decide on a bold strategy. In your thinking your best option is to take the position of the pawn, drawing Aizen into committing. That way Kisuke can get a better feel for what Aizen is capable of and select an appropriate strategy.

Which is basically what he would have been doing to this point, but you can be more aggressive at it. Of everyone present you have the best chance of surviving the attempt, and unlike when Kisuke was fighting alone you don't have to hold anything back for the killing blow. If this works, Kisuke will be the one doing that.

You throw yourself into close combat using shunpō, swiftly closing the distance and launching a series of empty-handed attacks. Instead of trying to block Aizen's sword you rely on your familiarity with his Jigen-ryū technique and aim palm and elbow strikes mostly at his wrists. To compliment that you rely on the Heihuquan style's footwork and kicks to deliver powerful blows whenever you find an opening, mostly to his knees and ankles but occasionally venturing as high as his ribs.

“You are adapting well,” Aizen commends you. “But your blows are clearly having trouble penetrating even my passive defenses.”

“Is that so?” you muse.

“It is,” Aizen replies. “That's no good.”

“It isn't?” you ask.

“Not at all,” Aizen frowns, and you watch his muscles abruptly begin rippling. “I'm not sure you understand the situation you're in, Captains.”
>1/2

>>3038669
>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DlyWk4ogKPY

“Since when were you under the impression that you were the only one trying to draw out your opponent's power?”

In an instant Aizen crosses the distance between you... when did he even move?

“Shunkō!” you roar.

A series of incredibly fast and precise strikes slash through the air on all sides of you, your own footwork keeping little more than a hair's breadth between Kyōka Suigetsu's hard edge and your arteries. You can feel the corona of electricity around your body as the blade slices through it, its wielder's movements totally unpredictable and wild.

His mental processes have sped up to match?

Aizen disappears from in front of you.

Shit!

“Got you.”

Aizen's blade slices cleanly through your back in a spray of blood and chunks of bone, only for your body to disappear into a few strips of white fabric.

“Do you really?” you taunt as your lightning-clad foot stomps at the back of his neck, clashing against a tiny kidō barrier that springs into existence before shattering. It takes most of the force out of the blow, but you still manage to kick Aizen down into a flat rooftop.

His impact raises a pall of dust and debris, spider-webbing the rooftop's many tiles from the force.

He turns to face your charge, blade parrying your crackling forearms as you thrust and claw with them in a relentless wave of attacks, each seemingly from a slightly different angle than the last. He's forced to rely on blocking with his hilt and elbows to keep up, slowly losing ground to your barrage one forced footstep at a time.

Then he takes a step back and raises his sword high, bringing it down from that signature stance with such force that it shatters the rooftop beneath you into a cloud of debris.

Your shunpō threads the proverbial needle to let you take his back, and as you charge again you duck low under his horizontal swing and spin like a lethal, bladed top across what remains of the rooftop, the claws on your left hand and on your feet tearing great gouges into the heavy stone tiles as you turn about and bury your right claws into the back of Aizen's leg.

Chunks of white trailing red ricochet off the ground to your side.

“You wanted to see my power,” you comment, dashing forward in a spray of stone fragments to fall upon Aizen with a predatory ferocity. Your claws meet his blade over and over again, some attacks sinking into his pale flesh and staining the area with droplets of blood.

“Don't blame me for this.”

Each time you tear into him his body begins to regenerate, each time he tries to counterattack his edge either misses you by a hair or meets a hardened sheath of lightning around one of your limbs. Eventually the building beneath you crumbles away from the abuse, and you find yourselves weaving through the falling debris.
>2/3

>>3038707
“Your power is tremendous,” Aizen commends you. “But mine is greater still.”

In a burst of powerful reiatsu, Aizen taps even deeper into the unnatural wellspring that has been giving him strength. “I suppose I can allow you to experience a level of reiatsu equivalent to my Bankai.”

>Press the attack, you can go a little faster still.
>His regeneration is a problem. Break his bones instead, leave mangled wounds instead of clean ones.
>Perhaps a poison compound will be better suited for this enemy.
>Restrain his movements using razor wire, hope Kisuke is ready.
>Other?

>>3038718
>>His regeneration is a problem. Break his bones instead, leave mangled wounds instead of clean ones.

>>3038718
>His regeneration is a problem. Break his bones instead, leave mangled wounds instead of clean ones.

>>3038718
>>His regeneration is a problem. Break his bones instead, leave mangled wounds instead of clean ones.

>>3038718
>>His regeneration is a problem. Break his bones instead, leave mangled wounds instead of clean ones.

>>3038718
>Perhaps a poison compound will be better suited for this enemy.
going against the grain, but I wanna see this

>>3038718
>>His regeneration is a problem. Break his bones instead, leave mangled wounds instead of clean ones.

>>3038718
>>His regeneration is a problem. Break his bones instead, leave mangled wounds instead of clean ones.

Rolled 10, 2, 3, 3 = 18 (4d10)

>3d10, best of three

Rolled 5, 1, 9 = 15 (3d10)

>>3038766

Rolled 5, 10, 4 = 19 (3d10)

>>3038766

Rolled 6, 10, 2 = 18 (3d10)

>>3038766
dc 18? not bad.

>>3038766
So he can regenerate more quickly the more reiatsu he taps into? That leaves cat-scratches somewhat less effective than you'd like. But that does give you another idea. You've known for centuries that cleaner wounds heal more quickly than jagged ones, and despite the fact that you haven't tried such a brutal approach against an arrancar before doesn't necessarily invalidate the reasonable corollary.

Against someone who can heal as rapidly as it seems Aizen now can, it makes sense that a broken bone or internal hemorrhaging would heal more slowly.

You close your fists.

With hammer-blows you strike Aizen, no longer tearing into his body with your fingertips but simply relying on explosive bursts of reiatsu that vastly amplify the force you can apply with your muscles. Each blow carries the power of a hundred compared to what you can do without shunkō, but outwardly it seems that you've achieved very little.

So you decide to kick things up a notch.

You swiftly wrap Aizen's right hand and wrist with a summoned kidō sash, which binds around Kyōka Suigetsu's blade as well. Then you pull hard and circle around behind him, trying to lock his arm behind his back. He turns in place to keep this from happening, which you then instantly take advantage of by creating a temporary clone... a favorite technique of Sui Fēng's, but one which you taught her.

The clone keeps up the appearance and for a split second Aizen continues to turn, only to find that you've misdirected him.

“Hyappō Rankan!”

A tight cluster of silvery rods slams into Aizen's back before slamming him into a nearby wall in turn, pinning him in place like darts stuck into a board.

“And what do you think this...” Aizen begins before realizing that you've moved again.

“Raiōken!” you roar, unleashing a barrage of blows enhanced by both Raijūsenkō and shunkō. But instead of coming at him from behind, they shatter through the wall in front of him and rain down on his face and chest. Dozens of blows in the span of a second destroy the obstacle and slam into Aizen's body, until their total force transferred into his body in that second sends him hurtling backwards trailing dust and blood.

His insides must have been rearranged by that assault, since you can see that none of the blood is coming from broken skin. It's all trailing from his mouth and nose.

But your attack is only a prelude.
>3d10, best of four

Rolled 10, 8, 3 = 21 (3d10)

>>3038836

Rolled 6, 8, 2 = 16 (3d10)

>>3038836

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

>>3038836

>>3038844
Jesus.

Rolled 4, 5, 5 = 14 (3d10)

>>3038836

Rolled 9, 7, 4 = 20 (3d10)

>>3038836

>>3038844
Gawd as mah witness, that man is broken in half!

>>3038836
Kisuke suddenly decides he's ready.

“Kuyō Shibari.”

“You...” Aizen growls, straining against the binding.

“Rikujōkōrō!” you add, impaling Aizen from six directions. “Carriage of thunder, bridge of a spinning wheel. With light, divide in six!”

At the same time, Kisuke begins his own chant. “Limit of the thousand hands, respectful hands, unable to touch the darkness. Shooting hands unable to reflect the blue sky. The road that basks in light, the wind that ignites the embers, time that gathers when both are together, without hesitation obey my orders.”

You strain to maintain the strength of your bakudō as Aizen breaks Kisuke's abandoned spell, Kisuke himself continuing to chant.

“Light bullets, eight bodies, nine items, book of heaven, diseased treasure, great wheel, grey tower. Aim far, and scatter brightly and cleanly when fired!”

“Hadō 91: Senjū Kōten Taihō!”

The blast consumes Aizen's body in a blinding flash of light that seems to illuminate the entire Seireitei for a few moments. But from the bright flames emerges something new.

Aizen now has no chest. Instead he has a hole with two pillars of sorts which form a cross through the hole. At the center of this cross you can see a glowing purple gem.

Behind his back you see what look like folded wings, six in total.

His eyes are simply deep motes of purple.

As he exhales the kidō expands outwards like smoke on a gust of wind.

In an instant you intercept a swing from what must be Kyōka Suigetsu, but without a hilt or guard. By backhanding the edge you manage to avoid losing your hand, and you even manage to toss Kisuke clear.

“Careful,” you warn him as Aizen stares down at his own hand. “There's some new nonsense at work here.”

>Take the lead, use Shōsōtō to assess this new form.
>Encourage Kisuke to take the lead. That can't have been it.
>Demand that Kisuke actually use his Bankai. Otherwise he's gonna get his ass kicked.
>Other?

>>3038925
>Take the lead, use Shōsōtō to assess this new form.

>>3038925
>Take the lead, use Shōsōtō to assess this new form.

>>3038925
>Take the lead, use Shōsōtō to assess this new form.
cat's been doin' good

>>3038925
>>Take the lead, use Shōsōtō to assess this new form.

>>3038925

>Take the lead, use Shōsōtō to assess this new form.

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

>3d10, best of three

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

>>3038980

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

>>3038980

Rolled 1, 10, 6 = 17 (3d10)

>>3038980

Rolled 2, 8, 4 = 14 (3d10)

>>3038980

>>3038980
You draw Shōsōtō, calling out its name and rushing in towards Aizen. But just before you launch your strike, you watch Aizen seemingly dissolve in front of you, and you can sense him reassembling behind you.

In an instant Shōsōtō meets with Kyōka Suigetsu, and you don't know what to make of what your zanpakutō is trying to tell you. On the surface it seems like very little has actually changed with Aizen, aside from an increase in his speed and physical power. Were it not for Shōsōtō you'd be outsped even with shunkō and Raijūsenkō active.

But at the same time Shōsōtō seems to be suggesting that there's something subtly different... and there must be, since he didn't used to be able to deconstruct himself and reconstruct himself at will. And the difference seems to be that his rate of evolution is actually increasing with each iteration.

“These evolutions of yours are accelerating,” you observe, raising your voice slightly to ensure that Kisuke can hear the new information.

You can see in his expression that he's trying to adjust his plans for this development... you know that his speed can't match Aizen's now, aside from perhaps in terms of his honed reflexes. But as for the literal teleportation which he seems to now be employing.

>Regroup with Kisuke while Aizen sees distracted, try and decide what to do next.
>Keep the pressure on him... you may be the only one who can at this point.
>Try to bind him in place and give someone else a chance to attack him.
>Other?

>>3039116
>Keep the pressure on him... you may be the only one who can at this point.

>>3039116
>>Keep the pressure on him... you may be the only one who can at this point.

>>3039116
>>Regroup with Kisuke while Aizen sees distracted, try and decide what to do next.

>>3039116
>>Try to bind him in place and give someone else a chance to attack him.

>>3039116
>>Keep the pressure on him... you may be the only one who can at this point.

kisuke might be able to work something else out while we work on him, we need every advantage now

Rolled 7, 1, 6, 10 = 24 (4d10)

>>3039116
>3d10, best of three

Rolled 2, 9, 6 = 17 (3d10)

>>3039171
oh fuck you aizen

Rolled 1, 8, 10 = 19 (3d10)

>>3039171

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

>>3039171

Rolled 2, 2, 4 = 8 (3d10)

>>3039171

>writing

>>3039207
You can't quite keep up with him at this level. He evades you just a little too swiftly for any of your blows to connect, and so you try a different approach.

“Sajō Sabaku!”

Even after entrapping Aizen in a web of kidō chains, he simply de-materializes and appears elsewhere. So it's come to that, has it?

“So,” Aizen muses, turning his empty eyes to face you. “I take it you understand your position?”

“Like hell,” you growl.

“Pity,” Aizen muses, turning his back on you. “In the end, I had hoped the two of you could at least understand.”

“I understand perfectly well,” you spit. “The moment you gain a little power, the minute things seem to have turned in your favor, you start acting like you've already won. Like your power entitles you to victory.”

“Well I have news for you, Aizen...” you declare, raising your fist and pounding it into your chest. “I'm still standing you son of a bitch.”

Aizen glances over his shoulder. “So you are.”

In a moment there's a massive crash as Starrk backpedals past you through the air, an explosion heralding the return of a face you'd hoped not to see again.

“Sorry 'bout that,” Starrk apologizes. “Thought that'd hold him a bit longer.”

And if Aizen's transformations weren't enough, now you have to deal with Gerard Valkyrie as well.

>Concentrate on Aizen one last time before he slips away.
>Try to cause enough of a commotion that Kisuke can try one more of his tricks.
>Gerard comes first. It's time to draw on your Bankai.
>Other?

>>3039294
>Try to cause enough of a commotion that Kisuke can try one more of his tricks.

>>3039294
>Try to cause enough of a commotion that Kisuke can try one more of his tricks.
>other: Shōsōtō a treasure item that is perfect for causing mass chaos.
>other: if that fails, Danmaku Tenyo.

>>3039307
>>3039294

supporting this, its a good idea

>>3039294
>Try to cause enough of a commotion that Kisuke can try one more of his tricks.

>>3039294
>>Gerard comes first. It's time to draw on your Bankai.

Rolled 8, 10, 5, 9 = 32 (4d10)

>3d10, best of three
>no opposition roll this time, but Kisuke does need to roll

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

>>3039342
jesus kisuke, what did you sacrifice for this?!

Rolled 2, 1, 1 = 4 (3d10)

>>3039342

Rolled 3, 2, 1 = 6 (3d10)

>>3039342

>>3039347
>>3039349
>>3039350
and i thought my roll would ruin this ...

Yeesh. Not looking good for best cat.

>>3039342
In that moment, Yoruichi needs to think of a distraction. And she has the perfect distraction in mind, a very special item she copied a long time ago, a relic of the Shiba clan. The first relic she ever used her Bankai on, as it happens.

“Bankai!” she shouts, materializing and throwing... a firecracker.

The firecracker explodes even as Aizen laughs mockingly. Then the fragments explode with the same brilliance. Then the fragments of the fragments become bomblets themselves, as do the fragments of those.

Thousands of explosions blanket an entire swathe of the Seireitei, making a deafening racket and blinding anyone who even so much as turns slightly in the direction of their fight. But Aizen has no need for eyes or ears anymore.

Yoruichi gasps abruptly as Aizen slides his blade into her gut, before being forced aside by a blast of red reiatsu that slices through the surrounding colorful blasts. The head of the Onmitsukidō collapses, blood flowing freely from her mouth.

“Bind, Benihime!” Kisuke shouts, slinging a net across Aizen which slams him into the side of a distant building. Without pause he extends his blade and aims its point at the spot where Aizen has been bound.

“Hadō 99: Goryūtenmetsu!”

Five spectral dragons explode from his reiatsu aura and wind their way away from Yoruichi and towards Aizen, meeting at a point in the distance before leveling several square blocks worth of the city despite being an incomplete and rushed effort.

“Beautiful,” Aizen muses from behind Kisuke. “But ultimately futile.”

After a brief exchange Aizen's blade slices deeply into Kisuke's chest.

“So, that was the real one after all,” Aizen realizes, sounding somewhat disappointed.

“Yeah, you got me,” Kisuke coughs. “But you were too sloppy.”

“You would be the expert.”

Kisuke staggers away with a flash step, only to be cut off by Aizen. The traitor Captain raises his sword high, ready to cut down his long-time intellectual rival only to find his arm lowering to his side as a curved beam of reishi seems to erupt from within his wrist.

“What...” Aizen realizes in borderline panic as his other wrist manifests the same phenomenon. “You used the Goryūtenmetsu as a diversion!?”
>1/?

>>3039411
“Seems that way,” Kisuke admits. “That seal has blocked off all the pressure points that allow you to release all that reiatsu your body is now releasing. I hope you like the idea of having your own reiatsu incinerate you from within... I hear it can be quite painful.”

“You bastard!” Aizen roars as he begins to glow.

“Of course, you have no choice by now,” Kisuke admits as Aizen completely disintegrates in a massive pyre of flickering reishi.

“Lord Aizen is...” Gerard rumbles nervously.

“Did you do it?” Starrk asks, eyes wide before glancing towards Yoruichi.

“Not yet,” Kisuke admits as the reishi dissipates to reveal a figure which no longer even remotely appears human.

Aizen's face has peeled away, leaving nothing but teeth, eyes, and inky-black muscles that would have been underneath his skin. Bits of his former body are peeling off as well, clinging like a stubborn cocoon.

“So it begins,” Kisuke sighs.

Yoruichi, who has only just managed to stagger back to her feet, takes another sword through the back.

“Yoruichi!” Kisuke shouts, before taking a sword still wet with his friend's blood through the gut.

Kisuke sways on the spot, but quickly grabs Aizen around the wrist. “Bad move.”

“Bankai: Kannonbiraki Benihime Aratame.”

“Dissection...” Aizen mutters, giving the impression of a frown despite now being unable to.

“That's right,” Kisuke replies as the torso of Benihime's new form manifests behind him.

Things immediately start to get weird.

Tiny threads begin to go to work, and even as Kisuke's body begins to be stitched together a seam opens on Aizen's arm. In an instant Aizen severs that arm and takes a swift step backwards. The stump begins to immediately reform itself, sprouting outwards like a growing bamboo shoot.
>2/3

File: 1523059694842.jpg (12 KB, 318x313)

12 KB JPG

>>3039411
>>3039479

File: 1458433427339.png (29 KB, 260x200)

29 KB PNG

>>3039479
>Things immediately start to get weird.
This should be good.

File: Riku Capt White.png (332 KB, 1920x1200)

332 KB PNG

>>3039479
From Aizen's back two massive growths explode outward, each with a fanged maw that opens and charges a massive ball of reiatsu like a cero. Both these blasts converge on Kisuke and his Bankai, which disappear entirely.

The growths sever themselves, and disintegrate rapidly.

“The rest I leave to you,” Aizen declares. “Gerard. Finish this trash off.”

“With pleasure,” Gerard grins as the dust clears and two figures emerge from the devastation: Kisuke, and a visibly-battered Starrk who can barely hold his pistols.

“That was well-done,” Kisuke coughs as his Bankai continues to work frantically. “But you may have just done nothing more than save a dead man.”

“Shut it,” Starrk pants. “This shit's tiring me out.”

Aizen leaves unhindered, heading for the Sōkyoku hill where several newcomers seem to have arrived. Each possesses powerful reiatsu, at very least equal to his own when he was a Captain.

“So they decided to show up,” Kisuke muses.

“Who?” Starrk asks.

Kisuke responds with a wry grin. “The Royal Special Task Force.”

Nearby, Yoruichi gets to her feet yet again. “Nobody better stab me this time or I'm gonna be mad.”

“Not this time, it seems,” a new voice sighs. “I'm afraid I'm not the stabbing type.”

Yoruichi stares in disbelief. “How?”

“Healing is an inherent skill of mine,” Askin Nakk le Vaar admits candidly, “the only one I have that's mine. Unfortunately it seems whatever you did to disable me has been undone.”

“I'm really starting to hate you people,” Yoruichi grumbles.

“You are not alone in that sentiment, Shihōin Yoruichi.”

One final newcomer steps through a slit in space itself, which snaps shut behind her. Nine white tails swish behind her back, one of which seems to have been mutilated, and two swords are at her waist. Her hair is pale as well, which is why it takes even Yoruichi a moment to recognize her face.

“You're late,” Yoruichi grins.

“Never,” Inari Riku sighs with a smile. “I was actually far too early. However I am here now.”

“Glad for it,” Yoruichi coughs, her lungs still healing. “So how do we...”

“We do not,” Riku clarifies. “Even you would be in trouble if you force yourself too hard like this. I will take things from here... I rather need the warm-up anyway.”

>>3039540
>A new challenger approaches!
>Inari Riku joins the battle!
I have to cut things off here, and it's a good time anyway since the next stage of the battle has begun. Yoruichi, Kisuke, and Riku are all on the field. Aizen is on the move, and the Royal Guard have deigned to put in an appearance: things are going to get out of control from here on.

Hope you're looking forward to it as much as I am, and see you next weekend!

>>3039561
>Yoruichi, Kisuke, and Riku
Where da fuq is Unohana and Byakuya?

>>3039561
>I have to cut things off here
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

>>3039562
Byakuya is still recovering and Unohana is in full medic mode.

File: 1448837328922.gif (1.97 MB, 420x264)

1.97 MB GIF

>>3039561
Oh man, this is gonna be hype af now that Riku has hit the field.

>>3039540
I'd like to imagine that riku's hair is long and flowing after hundreds of years sleeping in the sky, even if it's still in that ponytail.

Still wondering where Nel is, not that she could do much at this point.
Well, unless she full heals everyone with her vomit, that would be hilarious.

>>3040256
It's her drool that has healing properties and you hit the nail on the head