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A thunderbolt shattered the silence of the valley as ShihĆin Yoruichi emerged from the blinking disorientation of ShunkĆ, panting, chest heaving with the effort. Her body burned with strain, spiritual pressure still crackling faintly around her as she turned her gaze toward the collapsed figure of Sui-Feng. A flicker of dread touched Yoruichi's eyesâSui-Feng's sheer combat intensity had pushed her to the brink, forcing her to fully invoke ShunkĆ just to hold ground. Even then, it had taken over a dozen exchanges before Sui-Feng had finally succumbed.
Yoruichi had no choice but to admit it: over the years, Sui-Feng had grown frighteningly powerful.
Still trying to catch her breath, Yoruichi watched as Sui-Feng stirred. "Hey, calm down, Sui-Feng!" she called out, voice tense with urgency. But the younger woman rose slowly, blood crusting the corner of her mouth, her frame shaking yet unyielding. Her voice, when it came, was quiet and cold, devoid of mercy or hesitation, and carried the sharp edge of betrayal.
"What's left to sayâŠ? I pledged my loyalty to you. I gave you everything, and you vanishedâwithout a word, without goodbye." Sui-Feng's eyes locked onto Yoruichi's with blistering resentment, every word steeped in long-buried fury. "You abandoned me for years, left me alone⊠and now you reappear, spouting empty words?"
As her spiritual pressure surged again, a violent whirlwind began swirling around her, rippling the earth underfoot as she glared at Yoruichi with hatred and heartbreak bleeding through her voice. "What is it you want from me? Loyalty? Friendship? Or do you want everything againâwithout consequence?"
Without waiting for an answer, Sui-Feng vanished in a blur, launching toward the woman she had once reveredânow the target of her contempt. Yoruichi frowned, instantly flickering into Shunpo to avoid the attack, landing several feet away, gaze narrowing as her voice cut across the battlefield.
"Sui-Feng, I've been wondering since this startedâwhose side are you on?"
The question hung in the air for only a moment before Sui-Feng's voice responded, sharp and frigid. "What do you think?"
"You're helping Su Li?" Yoruichi asked, her voice low, cautious.
"I am his adjutant. My allegiance is to him," Sui-Feng replied without hesitation.
Yoruichi blinked, the corners of her mouth twitching with disbelief. After all this time, all this struggle⊠and this is what it came down to? She sensed another surge in Sui-Feng's posture and threw up a hand quickly, stepping forward before another strike could come.
"Wait, Sui-Feng! I'm with him too!"
That made Sui-Feng pauseâonly for her expression to twist with deeper suspicion and anger. "Don't lie to me!"
"I'm not lying," Yoruichi said quickly, her tone exasperated but sincere. "When Central 46 accelerated the execution schedule, I had no choice but to ask Su Li for help. That's the only reason he moved."
The fire in Sui-Feng's eyes faltered slightly. Her spiritual pressure began to settle, the winds calming.
"You're not stupid," Yoruichi continued, voice softer now. "Think it through. You already know the truthâyou just refused to see it."
For a long moment, Sui-Feng stood frozen. The haze of rage lifted just enough for logic to seep through, and as she replayed the events, the pieces began to align. From the very beginning, Su Li had been working in tandem with Yoruichi. Their shared goal had always been to stop Aizenâand halt the execution.
That truth settled in her chest like ice.
She had been fighting her own allies all along.
But just as the realization brought clarity, a new frustration flared in her chest.
"Then what the hell did you mean when you said he touched you?!" she snapped, eyes flaring again. "Didn't you say nothing ever happened between you two? You better explain that right now!"
Yoruichi winced, shoulders slumping slightly. She'd expected this. The cold jealousy in Sui-Feng's tone told her everything. "It's not what you think," she said with a sigh. "It was during that time⊠when I was still in my cat form."
It took several minutes to recount the entire storyâhow misunderstandings arose from her transformation and how nothing inappropriate had happened. Once the truth was laid bare, Sui-Feng's expression gradually softened, the tension slipping from her shoulders.
"Oh⊠so that's what it wasâŠ" she murmured. Her voice was quiet, almost embarrassed, a flicker of warmth breaking through the frost. "I knew it. Ah Li would never do something like that."
Her gaze softened, and a rare smile tugged at her lips as relief settled in.
Yoruichi looked at her with a mixture of amusement and conflicted affection. "Sui-Feng⊠you and him, nowâ?"
She never got to finish.
The sky cracked.
A massive reiatsu burst through the atmosphere like a rupture in reality, heavy and suffocating. Both women stiffened instantly.
"That presenceâŠ"
"The skyâŠ" they said in unison, eyes snapping upward.
"âŠis empty."
---
In a Sea of Fire
The battlefield was scorched black, waves of residual heat rolling off the cracked earth. Kyoraku Shunsui stood at the center of the wreckage, blades limp in his hands, clothes torn to shreds. The floral-patterned haori hung in tatters from his frame, and his bamboo hat was nowhere to be seen.
Behind him, Ukitake JĆ«shirĆ knelt, shoulders trembling, his pale face beaded with sweat. Neither man had come away unscathed.
Across from them stood the source of this devastation.
Yamamoto Genryƫsai Shigekuni, bare-chested and towering, his body covered in battle-scarred muscle and gnarled skin. His long white beard fluttered in the superheated air, and his eyes glowed with the rage of a man forged in war.
"You still stand?" His voice was low, unreadable, but laced with thunderous finality. "You twoâstill haven't learned?"
The words were deceptively calm, but both captains could feel the ancient fury beneath them. Neither dared respond.
This was no ordinary opponent.
This was the man who had led the Gotei 13 for over a thousand yearsâthe most powerful Shinigami in history. Even breathing in his presence felt like an act of defiance.
Kyoraku's eyes flicked to Ukitake, who gave a subtle nod. They tightened their grips on their ZanpakutĆ, ready to face the storm once more.
But then, a new presence tore through the sky.
Reiatsuânot Yamamoto's. Different. Colder.
Thicker.
An oppressive silence followed as the weight of that pressure settled on them.
"That isâŠ" Kyoraku muttered.
"The sky⊠is empty!" Ukitake said, his eyes wide.
They turned their eyes upwardâwhere the clouds began to unravel.
---
SĆkyoku Hill
Byakuya Kuchiki stood still, breath shallow. His blade trembled slightly as he pulled it away from Su Li's hand. The young man hadn't even flinched.
The gap between them wasn't just wideâit was insurmountable.
Still, Byakuya refused to back down. Even now, even knowing the outcome, he tightened his grip and raised his sword again. He would not stop. He couldn't.
This battle wasn't only about Rukia anymoreâit was about his duty, his pride, his soul as a captain of the Gotei 13. Even in defeat, he would stand.
But before he could move, the wind exploded.
A streak of white silk sliced through the sky, spinning violently as reiatsu erupted from its center. The air twisted around the vortex as familiar figures materialized in its wake.
Byakuya's eyes widened.
"Renji⊠RukiaâŠ"
And then, stepping calmly from the center of it all, a silhouette emerged.
The stillness in his posture, the haunting calm in his eyesâit was unmistakable.
"Aizen?!"
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