A bright wall had come closer, and soon they were in contact with the barrier that enveloped Seireitei.
"Break it!"
BANG!
As soon as the orb hit the barrier, they felt a large impact, sending them crashing down. They screamed and shouted as they lost control and fell.
Shirou could feel they were going too fast. The vibration intensified and the sound of explosion echoed.
BANG!
The orb they were inside crashed against the barrier, but they still couldn't stop. Another large crash sent them tumbling in their place.
Bang!
By now, the barrier became so unstable that it could break anytime.
"Harden the cannonball as much as possible!" Shirou ordered. His voice was serious, the situation had become worse and they could all feel it.
He concentrated on his reiryoku, increasing the amount as much as he could to harden the barrier.
Everyone else followed his example and did their best to keep the barrier steady.
"We're going to break through!" Ganju shouted in a warning tone.
They looked at each other for a moment and nodded.
Then, the moment they waited arrived. Their barrier broke through the Seireitei's barrier and flew over the city.
At the same time, the spherical barrier around them shattered, becoming a vortex of spiritual energy that scattered everywhere.
They were in the middle of sky, high enough that the buildings looked like a lego block, and the wind pressure was too strong to resist, blowing them away.
"Don't get separated! Soon it will swirl and disappear. If we're separated now, we will be hurled in different directions!" Yoruichi shouted, her ears flapping from the strong wind.
Unfortunately for Shirou, he was too far away from them. He was thrown outside the spiral first, separated from the rest.
"Shirou!" Ichigo shouted in worry.
Shirou heard him and shouted back, "Ichigo, I'll see you later! Be careful!"
"Damn it! Shirou!"
A force pushed him away from the vortex, and soon he was blown away to the ground. A spiritual power still surrounded him like a barrier, protecting him from any external damage. But the speed at which he fell didn't slow down, and he knew it wouldn't last for long.
Twisting his body, Shirou tried to regain his balance and activated Hirenkyaku to change his direction midair, moving toward the wall. The city of Seireitei was in sight and he had no way to stop the fall, so he decided that he needed to slow his fall before it was too late.
Fortunately, it worked. He stopped midair and turned around, only to see that three shooting stars were moving across the sky.
'That's the rest of the group.' Shirou thought and narrowed his eyes.
Being separated in four directions was bad news, but it was not that much of a deal if they could regroup. He needed to find them, or else they would be in danger.
'For now, let's land and hide.'
The commotion surely would attract the attention of Shinigami, so his best course of action was to hide. If the enemy found them, the difficulty of rescuing Rukia would increase drastically.
Shirou landed on the ground in a soft thud. The spiritual power that enveloped him faded away, and his reiatsu had calmed down.
Standing up, Shirou began to think about what to do next.
'Well, I'm separated. Let's go around and try to find anyone that we can trust.'
He walked away from the place where he landed, looking around. The building he could see was similar to a traditional Japanese architecture, made of wood with a sliding door.
As if this city never moved from the Edo period. It didn't feel like an afterlife. More like, he had moved into the past.
'It feels like a normal city. People are living their normal lives.' He noted, noticing the architecture of the city. 'There is a tall building over there. That place looks different from this area, most probably where the important Shinigami like Captains lived.'
He stopped walking for a second, and then he decided that the building should be a place to go. He needed a way to look for his friends and the best way was to find a vantage point, a tall building would be the best.
However, just before he took a step, he suddenly felt a reiatsu from behind.
Hurried footsteps came from the corner, signaling people had caught up with him. It wasn't strange at all.
Of course someone would come after seeing a shooting star falling from the sky. However, it seemed he was found too fast.
'They are competent.'
Shirou quickly jumped to the tree and hid. His black haori blended with the dark shade, hiding him from plain sight.
"Spread out!" A voice shouted from below.
He peeked a bit, only to find a man in black shihakusho standing in front of a group. There were around twenty people. Everyone had the same clothes and swords.
"Where is the Ryoka? Find them!" The man ordered.
The others answered simultaneously, "Yes!"
'So they are the Shinigami living here.' Shirou confirmed his suspicion and looked at them. His eyes narrowed, 'It's not going to be easy if I have to fight my way through. I also don't know where Rukia is held either.'
He silently moved to the branch of the tree, his movement barely created a noise. Then, he jumped from the branch and landed silently on the rooftop, away from them.
No one would try to find him in this place, was what he hoped before he felt a large reiatsu coming for him. His body moved before his mind, rolling to the side, avoiding a strike that was aimed at his head.
A loud crash echoed from the impact. A piece of tiles flew everywhere, creating a small cloud of dust.
Shirou stood and turned around. The dust slowly faded and he saw the figure who tried to kill him.
He had short black hair with strange style, large body, bead necklaces around his neck and the same beads bracelets in both wrists.
Shirou could see the large hole in the tiles where he struck. It wasn't something he could receive directly, and he couldn't believe this was the strength a Shinigami could produce.
"I missed," The large shinigami muttered, his tone full of disappointment, "You managed to dodge an ambush, my compliment to you. However, you won't survive next time."
He turned toward Shirou, raising his zanpakutou to the front.
"Now I'll say goodbye. Feel regret for infiltrating Seireitei and encountering me."
Narrowing his eyes, Shirou muttered, "Trace on."
Kanshou and Bakuya appeared in his hands, and he threw both of them without warning. The twin swords spun midair and attracted to each other, increasing their speed. Their trajectory was erratic, moving like a butterfly, hard to read and even harder to react to.
At the same time, Shirou traced another pair and rushed toward the Shinigami. No time to spend on thinking. Those who strike first win.
Surprised by the sudden attack, the Shinigami swung his sword, deflecting both swords with his katana.
Clang!
Kanshou and Bakuya clanged loudly and fell to the ground, disappearing into blue fire.
Still, Shirou had already reached him. The blades in his hand danced like butterflies and attacked him, slashing and stabbing, striking in every direction to confuse and kill.
The Shinigami didn't panic and deflected every attack with ease, despite the fact that his weapon was longer and slower, not mentioning the size difference between the weapons.
The weight of his zanpakutou should have made his swing slower, however the blade moved as if it weighed nothing and parried Shirou's attack, even using Kanshou and Bakuya momentum against him, pushing the twin sword user to back away.
"Hmph, don't you feel humiliated that your weapon is inferior to mine?" The Shinigami said mockingly.
"I wonder about that."
Suddenly, Shirou changed his tempo. He lowered his stance and swung Kanshou, aiming at his neck.
When it was parried, Bakuya followed the trajectory and landed a hit to the Shinigami's leg, making a bleeding cut on his left knee. Then, Kanshou's next move aimed at the arm, creating a similar injury on the opponent's forearm, making his arm limp.
Blood flowed from both wounds, painting his black clothes crimson.
"Ugh!"
Jumping backward, the Shinigami put some distance between them. He pressed his aching wound and grunted.
"Damn you." He cursed, his voice full of malice. "I shall show you my full power."
Hearing that, Shirou narrowed his eyes in caution.
The shinigami pierced his hand with his zanpakutou and exclaimed, "Spread your wings, Tsunzakigarasu!"
***
A/N: Soon the Soul Society arc will be finished in my pat - reon! After it finished, the schedule will change from 2 chapters a day to 1 chapter a day.
But! I might drop extra chapters if we get many power stones.
so... throw it to me?