Chapter 47: Yuna's Grand Betrayal
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Chapter 47: Yuna's Grand Betrayal
While fights were happening all over Seireitei, Ichigo had his own opponent to worry about: Kuchiki Byakuya. At first, they were only using their swords, resulting in an even fight.
After exchanging a few blows, Byakuya decided to unseal his Zanpakuto, resulting in it flacking away and turning into thousands of blade-like Sakura petals.
However, before Byakuya could even make use of those petals, a massive energy beam blasted them away, shocking him greatly.
Following that, Ichigo explained to Byakuya that the technique he had just used was called [Getsuga Tenshou] and that it was the special ability of his Zanpakuto, followed by him demanding Byakuya to use his Bankai.
He obliged and allowed his sword to drop to the ground tip first, confusing Ichigo a little. However, before he could understand the situation, massive swords grew out of the ground, followed by them scattering into millions of sakura petals.
Although Ichigo was surprised by what had just happened, he continued pressing on, trying to reach Byakuya. Unfortunately, his hopes were quickly crushed as a sea of sakura petals smashed him into the ground.
Despite getting wounded, a smirk appeared on Ichigo's face, followed by him claiming to have reached Bankai as well, resulting in Byakuya ridiculing him. After all, reaching Bankai held a lot of prestige within Seireitei.
"Again and again, you damn invaders insist on trampling on my pride! I will end this today!"
Although Ichigo was pretty sure he was currently blamed for something he wasn't responsible for, he was pretty certain there was nothing he could do about it, so he decided not to comment any further.
Anyway, Spiritual Power gathered around Ichigo, causing the winds around him to get stronger as his eyes started glowing blue. He raised his sword and pointed it at Byakuya as his Spiritual Power continued gathering. Moments later, he opened his mouth and spoke.
"[Ban-KAI]"
Spirituar Pressure erupted as another energy beam flew past Byakuya. Moments later, the dust settled, and Ichigo's new form was revealed. Now, he wore a black cloak, while his initially huge sword turned much smaller and became completely black, turning it from a cleaver to an almost ordinary-looking straight sword.
Initially, Byakuya mocked Ichigo's Bankai, claiming that something so small-looking couldn't be a real Bankai, but he quickly changed his opinion when Ichigo suddenly appeared behind him while holding a blade to his neck.
Unfortunately, Ichigo was blinded by his newfound power and removed his blade, thinking he could replicate the act at any time, even if Byakuya wasn't off-guard.
That turned out to be not entirely true, as Ichigo started struggling to evade Byakuya's sea of sakura petals, but despite that, Ichigo managed to deal another wound to Byakuya, turning one of his arms into a bloody mess due to having to block Ichigo's blade with his hand. The debut release of this chapter happened at Ñøv€l-B1n.
Following that, Byakuya increased the pressure as all of the sakura petals formed a dome of white swords, basically fully focusing his Bankai on offense.
The fights continued, but the longer they fought, the more Ichigo was pushed back due to him getting slower and slower. Initially, Ichigo believed that to be one of the effects of the technique Byakuya was currently using, but Byakuya quickly realized Ichigo's thoughts and explained that the reason he was getting slower was that Ichigo was running out of stamina.
After all, this was pretty much the first time he used his Bankai during real combat. So, Ichigo doesn't know yet how to properly organize his stamina due to not being used to reaching such high speeds when moving around.
As Byakuya continued pushing back Ichigo, he finally managed to find a proper opening, resulting in Byakuya shooting a lightning Kido straight through Ichigo's chest.
Seeing that Ichigo was pretty much down for the count, Byakuya prepared to finish him off, but before he could do so, Ichigo suddenly caught Byakuya's sword with his hand, shocking him greatly.
Currently, Ichigo's head was lowered. So Byakuya couldn't see his face, but as soon as Ichigo raised his head, Byakuya couldn't help but reel back. Currently, there was a hollow-like mask covering Ichigo's face.
Due to the shock Byakuya experienced due to Ichigo's sudden transformation and the fact that Ichigo suddenly moved much faster than before, Byakuya was a little late to react, resulting in Ichigo's sword carving a deep gash diagonally into his torso.
However, Ichigo wasn't done yet as he continued assaulting Byakuya in a crazed manner while screeching like a beast, even shooting a yet-black Getsuga Tensho from point-blank range, heavily wounding Byakuya.
Just when Byakuya felt like he was on his last leg, an angered scream escaped Ichigo as one of his hands began tearing at his mask.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING, YOU IDIOT!? I ALMOST HAD HIM!!! NOOOO!!!"
"SHUT UP!!!"
Byakuya could only look at Ichigo in bewilderment as he was talking with himself while trying to tear off the hollow mask he was wearing.
Moments of struggling later, Ichigo managed to tear off the mask, causing him to sigh in relief while giving Byakuya a glance.
"Sorry for the small interruption."
Obviously, Byakuya was rather confused about what had just happened, but in the end, he dismissed this matter as if he was no longer interested.
"Little interruption, huh? Very well, I won't bother asking what just happened, so let's continue. You must be just as exhausted as I am, so let's settle this with a final move."
As soon as Byakuya finished speaking, all the white swords surrounding the duo gathered on him, resulting in white wings forming on his back as his sword became longer and covered in white energy.
Seeing Byakuya's fancy move, Ichigo could only shake his head. He didn't have any fancy moves like that, so he would just pour everything he had into a Getsuga Tensho.
"Very well, let's finish this."
Both parties grew silent as they gathered as much power as they could, and moments later, they both lunged at each other at high speed, intending to finish this for good.
"[GETSUGA TEN...]"
"[SHUKEI: HAKUTEI...]"
"[Divine Cake Prankcombat Art: Two Cakes to End All Battles]"
*SPLAT*x2
Before the duo could reach each other and could perform their respective techniques, another voice echoed over the battlefield, causing the duo to feel chills, and before they could understand what was going on, a cake slammed into each of their faces, resulting in them jerking their weapons back on reflex and shooting their techniques skyward, where they harmlessly dissipated.
Considering what had just happened, the duo had rather contrasting thoughts.
Meanwhile, Shinsui wasn't too far away from everything happening and simply spectated the situation. Well, spectate probably wasn't the correct word, as he could barely see anything due to tears flowing out of his eyes like a river while he was on his hands and knees laughing so hard he was almost choking to death.
Despite that, he noticed that there seemed to be a certain degree of transparency to the cake that had just hit Byakuya, scaring him a little before dismissing it as an optical illusion.
Usually, he could easily control his emotions and act according to the situation, but he was currently rather drunk, so it couldn't be helped that he lost quite a bit of that control, causing all kinds of emotions to pop up uncontrolled.
Additionally, although Yuna had already knocked out two people, neither of them were wounded by her, and they would probably be good to go again in a day or two.
On top of that, seeing the haughty Kuchiki clan put down a peck or two was an absolute blast for Shinsui.
Ignoring Shinsui's rampant laughter, Yuna walked towards Tosen and shook her head in disappointment.
"What are you even doing? Why has Aizen's betrayal already been made public before he could capture his target? I'm starting to doubt the competence of your organization somewhat."
Hearing Yuna's words, Tosen couldn't help but grit his teeth. Obviously, he wasn't happy that Yuna critiqued Aizen, but there was nothing much he could counter her words with except for a hollow "Everything is going according to plan".
However, before Tosen could come up with an excuse, Ichigo interrupted the conversation.
"YUNA!? WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?"
Hearing Ichigo's yell, Yuna shrugged her shoulder in indifference while looking at Ichigo.
"Well, I decided that going with Aizen would be more fun, so there you go."
"WHAT!? HOW CAN YOU BETRAY US LIKE THAT!?"
Hearing the word "betray" Yuna could only shake her head dismissively. Obviously, she hated betrayals; she always made that rather clear. But even if she didn't plan to mess around with Aizen in secret, she wouldn't consider her current act a betrayal.
After all, who was she betraying? Seireitei? Since when was she part of that? Her classmates? Is that really a bond deep enough to be loyal to it? Her friends? What friends? She spent a few months with Ichigo and the others in the same classroom and occasionally talked with each other. Others might consider that friendship, but, due to her high age, she didn't.
Obviously, she wouldn't abandon them at the drop of a hat, but she had other things that took priority over them without a doubt.
As for Hinata and Naruto, they knew her. She had not even a sliver of a doubt that as soon as those two heard that Yuna had sided with Aizen, they would instantly figure out what she was planning.
So, a smirk appeared on Yuna's face as she looked at Ichigo mockingly, continuing her play.
"Betray? Hehe, what made you think I was on your side, Ichigo? You are too naive and trusting. Did you think I wanted to come here so safe, Rukia, someone who is pretty much a stranger to me? Don't make me laugh. If you want to support a group, it's obvious to go for the strongest one, no? Since Aizen has been playing with the whole city of Seireitei for years now, isn't it obvious to choose him over a bunch of random school kids?"
Hearing Yuna's mocking words, Ichigo's anger exploded, and he charged Yuna recklessly. Seeing Ichigo's charge, Yuna could only shake her head in disappointment.
"What is this all about? Have you grown..."
*Clang*
Ichigos sword collided with Yuna's index finger, resulting in the sound of metal hitting a hard object reverberating over the execution grounds, as not even a small scratch appeared on Yuna's finger.
"... weaker?"
Blood started oozing out of Ichigo's mouth as he looked at the single finger that had just blocked his sword strike in disbelief. However, before he could even figure out what was going on, Yuna resumed speaking.
"Oh? Now I see it. I see, I see. Your inner hollow got set free, and you are currently struggling with it, huh? What a pity. You should solve your little hollow problem as soon as possible, as things are about to get messy."
As Yuna finished speaking, her gaze landed on the sword she was currently blocking, followed by it wandering toward Ichigo's crotch.
"Out of curiosity, did it grow after your sword shrunk?"
Hearing Yuna go for another "big sword equals small dick" joke, a tick mark appeared on Ichigo's face as he reeled back his swords and slashed at Yuna yet again.
"STOP MAKING THESE JOKES!!!"
Unfortunately, just like Renji before him, Ichigo found himself spinning through the air and crashing into the ground seconds later. However, unlike Renji, he was still conscious.
As soon as Ichigo crashed onto the ground, silence washed over the execution ground that was only broken by someone smashing his fist on the ground while laughing like a maniac and occasionally choking and coughing. In hindsight, "silence" was probably not the right word to choose.
Anyway, moments later, another piece of white clothing appeared, briefly forming a sphere before disappearing, revealing Aizen and Gin underneath it.
"Took you long enough. As you can see, I'm already done here, so let's go."
After looking around, Aizen briefly wondered what in the world had happened here. He was especially curious about why Shinsui seemed to be pretty close to choking to death due to excessive laughter and why a few of the knocked-out people appeared to be covered in cake.
Despite his curiosity, he decided not to bother with these matters for now, as there were more important things to do now.
"Very well, let's finish this. Please hand over Kuchiki Rukia."
"O-Oi, Yuna, you didn't actually side with Aizen, right?"
Although Rukia had been rather quiet the whole time, only letting the insanity play out in front of her, now that things were actually happening, she could only speak up.
Hearing Rukia's question, Yuna simply shrugged her shoulder as she answered Rukia by tossing her towards Aizen, who easily caught her.
"Geez, I really wonder about that~"
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Chapter 47: Yuna's Grand Betrayal
While fights were happening all over Seireitei, Ichigo had his own opponent to worry about: Kuchiki Byakuya. At first, they were only using their swords, resulting in an even fight.
After exchanging a few blows, Byakuya decided to unseal his Zanpakuto, resulting in it flacking away and turning into thousands of blade-like Sakura petals.
However, before Byakuya could even make use of those petals, a massive energy beam blasted them away, shocking him greatly.
Following that, Ichigo explained to Byakuya that the technique he had just used was called [Getsuga Tenshou] and that it was the special ability of his Zanpakuto, followed by him demanding Byakuya to use his Bankai.
He obliged and allowed his sword to drop to the ground tip first, confusing Ichigo a little. However, before he could understand the situation, massive swords grew out of the ground, followed by them scattering into millions of sakura petals.
Although Ichigo was surprised by what had just happened, he continued pressing on, trying to reach Byakuya. Unfortunately, his hopes were quickly crushed as a sea of sakura petals smashed him into the ground.
Despite getting wounded, a smirk appeared on Ichigo's face, followed by him claiming to have reached Bankai as well, resulting in Byakuya ridiculing him. After all, reaching Bankai held a lot of prestige within Seireitei.
"Again and again, you damn invaders insist on trampling on my pride! I will end this today!"
Although Ichigo was pretty sure he was currently blamed for something he wasn't responsible for, he was pretty certain there was nothing he could do about it, so he decided not to comment any further.
Anyway, Spiritual Power gathered around Ichigo, causing the winds around him to get stronger as his eyes started glowing blue. He raised his sword and pointed it at Byakuya as his Spiritual Power continued gathering. Moments later, he opened his mouth and spoke.
"[Ban-KAI]"
Spirituar Pressure erupted as another energy beam flew past Byakuya. Moments later, the dust settled, and Ichigo's new form was revealed. Now, he wore a black cloak, while his initially huge sword turned much smaller and became completely black, turning it from a cleaver to an almost ordinary-looking straight sword.
Initially, Byakuya mocked Ichigo's Bankai, claiming that something so small-looking couldn't be a real Bankai, but he quickly changed his opinion when Ichigo suddenly appeared behind him while holding a blade to his neck.
Unfortunately, Ichigo was blinded by his newfound power and removed his blade, thinking he could replicate the act at any time, even if Byakuya wasn't off-guard.
That turned out to be not entirely true, as Ichigo started struggling to evade Byakuya's sea of sakura petals, but despite that, Ichigo managed to deal another wound to Byakuya, turning one of his arms into a bloody mess due to having to block Ichigo's blade with his hand. The debut release of this chapter happened at Ñøv€l-B1n.
Following that, Byakuya increased the pressure as all of the sakura petals formed a dome of white swords, basically fully focusing his Bankai on offense.
The fights continued, but the longer they fought, the more Ichigo was pushed back due to him getting slower and slower. Initially, Ichigo believed that to be one of the effects of the technique Byakuya was currently using, but Byakuya quickly realized Ichigo's thoughts and explained that the reason he was getting slower was that Ichigo was running out of stamina.
After all, this was pretty much the first time he used his Bankai during real combat. So, Ichigo doesn't know yet how to properly organize his stamina due to not being used to reaching such high speeds when moving around.
As Byakuya continued pushing back Ichigo, he finally managed to find a proper opening, resulting in Byakuya shooting a lightning Kido straight through Ichigo's chest.
Seeing that Ichigo was pretty much down for the count, Byakuya prepared to finish him off, but before he could do so, Ichigo suddenly caught Byakuya's sword with his hand, shocking him greatly.
Currently, Ichigo's head was lowered. So Byakuya couldn't see his face, but as soon as Ichigo raised his head, Byakuya couldn't help but reel back. Currently, there was a hollow-like mask covering Ichigo's face.
Due to the shock Byakuya experienced due to Ichigo's sudden transformation and the fact that Ichigo suddenly moved much faster than before, Byakuya was a little late to react, resulting in Ichigo's sword carving a deep gash diagonally into his torso.
However, Ichigo wasn't done yet as he continued assaulting Byakuya in a crazed manner while screeching like a beast, even shooting a yet-black Getsuga Tensho from point-blank range, heavily wounding Byakuya.
Just when Byakuya felt like he was on his last leg, an angered scream escaped Ichigo as one of his hands began tearing at his mask.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING, YOU IDIOT!? I ALMOST HAD HIM!!! NOOOO!!!"
"SHUT UP!!!"
Byakuya could only look at Ichigo in bewilderment as he was talking with himself while trying to tear off the hollow mask he was wearing.
Moments of struggling later, Ichigo managed to tear off the mask, causing him to sigh in relief while giving Byakuya a glance.
"Sorry for the small interruption."
Obviously, Byakuya was rather confused about what had just happened, but in the end, he dismissed this matter as if he was no longer interested.
"Little interruption, huh? Very well, I won't bother asking what just happened, so let's continue. You must be just as exhausted as I am, so let's settle this with a final move."
As soon as Byakuya finished speaking, all the white swords surrounding the duo gathered on him, resulting in white wings forming on his back as his sword became longer and covered in white energy.
Seeing Byakuya's fancy move, Ichigo could only shake his head. He didn't have any fancy moves like that, so he would just pour everything he had into a Getsuga Tensho.
"Very well, let's finish this."
Both parties grew silent as they gathered as much power as they could, and moments later, they both lunged at each other at high speed, intending to finish this for good.
"[GETSUGA TEN...]"
"[SHUKEI: HAKUTEI...]"
"[Divine Cake Prankcombat Art: Two Cakes to End All Battles]"
*SPLAT*x2
Before the duo could reach each other and could perform their respective techniques, another voice echoed over the battlefield, causing the duo to feel chills, and before they could understand what was going on, a cake slammed into each of their faces, resulting in them jerking their weapons back on reflex and shooting their techniques skyward, where they harmlessly dissipated.
Considering what had just happened, the duo had rather contrasting thoughts.
Meanwhile, Shinsui wasn't too far away from everything happening and simply spectated the situation. Well, spectate probably wasn't the correct word, as he could barely see anything due to tears flowing out of his eyes like a river while he was on his hands and knees laughing so hard he was almost choking to death.
Despite that, he noticed that there seemed to be a certain degree of transparency to the cake that had just hit Byakuya, scaring him a little before dismissing it as an optical illusion.
Usually, he could easily control his emotions and act according to the situation, but he was currently rather drunk, so it couldn't be helped that he lost quite a bit of that control, causing all kinds of emotions to pop up uncontrolled.
Additionally, although Yuna had already knocked out two people, neither of them were wounded by her, and they would probably be good to go again in a day or two.
On top of that, seeing the haughty Kuchiki clan put down a peck or two was an absolute blast for Shinsui.
Ignoring Shinsui's rampant laughter, Yuna walked towards Tosen and shook her head in disappointment.
"What are you even doing? Why has Aizen's betrayal already been made public before he could capture his target? I'm starting to doubt the competence of your organization somewhat."
Hearing Yuna's words, Tosen couldn't help but grit his teeth. Obviously, he wasn't happy that Yuna critiqued Aizen, but there was nothing much he could counter her words with except for a hollow "Everything is going according to plan".
However, before Tosen could come up with an excuse, Ichigo interrupted the conversation.
"YUNA!? WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?"
Hearing Ichigo's yell, Yuna shrugged her shoulder in indifference while looking at Ichigo.
"Well, I decided that going with Aizen would be more fun, so there you go."
"WHAT!? HOW CAN YOU BETRAY US LIKE THAT!?"
Hearing the word "betray" Yuna could only shake her head dismissively. Obviously, she hated betrayals; she always made that rather clear. But even if she didn't plan to mess around with Aizen in secret, she wouldn't consider her current act a betrayal.
After all, who was she betraying? Seireitei? Since when was she part of that? Her classmates? Is that really a bond deep enough to be loyal to it? Her friends? What friends? She spent a few months with Ichigo and the others in the same classroom and occasionally talked with each other. Others might consider that friendship, but, due to her high age, she didn't.
Obviously, she wouldn't abandon them at the drop of a hat, but she had other things that took priority over them without a doubt.
As for Hinata and Naruto, they knew her. She had not even a sliver of a doubt that as soon as those two heard that Yuna had sided with Aizen, they would instantly figure out what she was planning.
So, a smirk appeared on Yuna's face as she looked at Ichigo mockingly, continuing her play.
"Betray? Hehe, what made you think I was on your side, Ichigo? You are too naive and trusting. Did you think I wanted to come here so safe, Rukia, someone who is pretty much a stranger to me? Don't make me laugh. If you want to support a group, it's obvious to go for the strongest one, no? Since Aizen has been playing with the whole city of Seireitei for years now, isn't it obvious to choose him over a bunch of random school kids?"
Hearing Yuna's mocking words, Ichigo's anger exploded, and he charged Yuna recklessly. Seeing Ichigo's charge, Yuna could only shake her head in disappointment.
"What is this all about? Have you grown..."
*Clang*
Ichigos sword collided with Yuna's index finger, resulting in the sound of metal hitting a hard object reverberating over the execution grounds, as not even a small scratch appeared on Yuna's finger.
"... weaker?"
Blood started oozing out of Ichigo's mouth as he looked at the single finger that had just blocked his sword strike in disbelief. However, before he could even figure out what was going on, Yuna resumed speaking.
"Oh? Now I see it. I see, I see. Your inner hollow got set free, and you are currently struggling with it, huh? What a pity. You should solve your little hollow problem as soon as possible, as things are about to get messy."
As Yuna finished speaking, her gaze landed on the sword she was currently blocking, followed by it wandering toward Ichigo's crotch.
"Out of curiosity, did it grow after your sword shrunk?"
Hearing Yuna go for another "big sword equals small dick" joke, a tick mark appeared on Ichigo's face as he reeled back his swords and slashed at Yuna yet again.
"STOP MAKING THESE JOKES!!!"
Unfortunately, just like Renji before him, Ichigo found himself spinning through the air and crashing into the ground seconds later. However, unlike Renji, he was still conscious.
As soon as Ichigo crashed onto the ground, silence washed over the execution ground that was only broken by someone smashing his fist on the ground while laughing like a maniac and occasionally choking and coughing. In hindsight, "silence" was probably not the right word to choose.
Anyway, moments later, another piece of white clothing appeared, briefly forming a sphere before disappearing, revealing Aizen and Gin underneath it.
"Took you long enough. As you can see, I'm already done here, so let's go."
After looking around, Aizen briefly wondered what in the world had happened here. He was especially curious about why Shinsui seemed to be pretty close to choking to death due to excessive laughter and why a few of the knocked-out people appeared to be covered in cake.
Despite his curiosity, he decided not to bother with these matters for now, as there were more important things to do now.
"Very well, let's finish this. Please hand over Kuchiki Rukia."
"O-Oi, Yuna, you didn't actually side with Aizen, right?"
Although Rukia had been rather quiet the whole time, only letting the insanity play out in front of her, now that things were actually happening, she could only speak up.
Hearing Rukia's question, Yuna simply shrugged her shoulder as she answered Rukia by tossing her towards Aizen, who easily caught her.
"Geez, I really wonder about that~"
Chapter 47: Yuna's Grand BetrayalWhile fights were happening all over Seireitei, Ichigo had his own opponent to worry about: Kuchiki Byakuya. At first, they were only using their swords, resulting in an even fight. After exchanging a few blows, Byakuya decided to unseal his Zanpakuto, resulting in it flacking away and turning into thousands of blade-like Sakura petals. However, before Byakuya could even make use of those petals, a massive energy beam blasted them away, shocking him greatly. Following that, Ichigo explained to Byakuya that the technique he had just used was called Getsuga Tenshou and that it was the special ability of his Zanpakuto, followed by him demanding Byakuya to use his Bankai. He obliged and allowed his sword to drop to the ground tip first, confusing Ichigo a little. However, before he could understand the situation, massive swords grew out of the ground, followed by them scattering into millions of sakura petals. Although Ichigo was surprised by what had just happened, he continued pressing on, trying to reach Byakuya. Unfortunately, his hopes were quickly crushed as a sea of sakura petals smashed him into the ground. Despite getting wounded, a smirk appeared on Ichigo's face, followed by him claiming to have reached Bankai as well, resulting in Byakuya ridiculing him. After all, reaching Bankai held a lot of prestige within Seireitei. "Again and again, you damn invaders insist on trampling on my pride! I will end this today!" Although Ichigo was pretty sure he was currently blamed for something he wasn't responsible for, he was pretty certain there was nothing he could do about it, so he decided not to comment any further. Anyway, Spiritual Power gathered around Ichigo, causing the winds around him to get stronger as his eyes started glowing blue. He raised his sword and pointed it at Byakuya as his Spiritual Power continued gathering. Moments later, he opened his mouth and spoke. "Ban-KAI" Spirituar Pressure erupted as another energy beam flew past Byakuya. Moments later, the dust settled, and Ichigo's new form was revealed. Now, he wore a black cloak, while his initially huge sword turned much smaller and became completely black, turning it from a cleaver to an almost ordinary-looking straight sword. Initially, Byakuya mocked Ichigo's Bankai, claiming that something so small-looking couldn't be a real Bankai, but he quickly changed his opinion when Ichigo suddenly appeared behind him while holding a blade to his neck. Unfortunately, Ichigo was blinded by his newfound power and removed his blade, thinking he could replicate the act at any time, even if Byakuya wasn't off-guard. That turned out to be not entirely true, as Ichigo started struggling to evade Byakuya's sea of sakura petals, but despite that, Ichigo managed to deal another wound to Byakuya, turning one of his arms into a bloody mess due to having to block Ichigo's blade with his hand. The debut release of this chapter happened at Nvl-B1n.Following that, Byakuya increased the pressure as all of the sakura petals formed a dome of white swords, basically fully focusing his Bankai on offense. The fights continued, but the longer they fought, the more Ichigo was pushed back due to him getting slower and slower. Initially, Ichigo believed that to be one of the effects of the technique Byakuya was currently using, but Byakuya quickly realized Ichigo's thoughts and explained that the reason he was getting slower was that Ichigo was running out of stamina. After all, this was pretty much the first time he used his Bankai during real combat. So, Ichigo doesn't know yet how to properly organize his stamina due to not being used to reaching such high speeds when moving around. As Byakuya continued pushing back Ichigo, he finally managed to find a proper opening, resulting in Byakuya shooting a lightning Kido straight through Ichigo's chest. Seeing that Ichigo was pretty much down for the count, Byakuya prepared to finish him off, but before he could do so, Ichigo suddenly caught Byakuya's sword with his hand, shocking him greatly. Currently, Ichigo's head was lowered. So Byakuya couldn't see his face, but as soon as Ichigo raised his head, Byakuya couldn't help but reel back. Currently, there was a hollow-like mask covering Ichigo's face. Due to the shock Byakuya experienced due to Ichigo's sudden transformation and the fact that Ichigo suddenly moved much faster than before, Byakuya was a little late to react, resulting in Ichigo's sword carving a deep gash diagonally into his torso. However, Ichigo wasn't done yet as he continued assaulting Byakuya in a crazed manner while screeching like a beast, even shooting a yet-black Getsuga Tensho from point-blank range, heavily wounding Byakuya. Just when Byakuya felt like he was on his last leg, an angered scream escaped Ichigo as one of his hands began tearing at his mask. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING, YOU IDIOT!? I ALMOST HAD HIM!!! NOOOO!!!" "SHUT UP!!!" Byakuya could only look at Ichigo in bewilderment as he was talking with himself while trying to tear off the hollow mask he was wearing. Moments of struggling later, Ichigo managed to tear off the mask, causing him to sigh in relief while giving Byakuya a glance. "Sorry for the small interruption." Obviously, Byakuya was rather confused about what had just happened, but in the end, he dismissed this matter as if he was no longer interested. "Little interruption, huh? Very well, I won't bother asking what just happened, so let's continue. You must be just as exhausted as I am, so let's settle this with a final move." As soon as Byakuya finished speaking, all the white swords surrounding the duo gathered on him, resulting in white wings forming on his back as his sword became longer and covered in white energy. Seeing Byakuya's fancy move, Ichigo could only shake his head. He didn't have any fancy moves like that, so he would just pour everything he had into a Getsuga Tensho. "Very well, let's finish this." Both parties grew silent as they gathered as much power as they could, and moments later, they both lunged at each other at high speed, intending to finish this for good. "GETSUGA TEN..." "SHUKEI: HAKUTEI..." "Divine Cake Prankcombat Art: Two Cakes to End All Battles" *SPLAT*x2 Before the duo could reach each other and could perform their respective techniques, another voice echoed over the battlefield, causing the duo to feel chills, and before they could understand what was going on, a cake slammed into each of their faces, resulting in them jerking their weapons back on reflex and shooting their techniques skyward, where they harmlessly dissipated. Considering what had just happened, the duo had rather contrasting thoughts. Meanwhile, Shinsui wasn't too far away from everything happening and simply spectated the situation. Well, spectate probably wasn't the correct word, as he could barely see anything due to tears flowing out of his eyes like a river while he was on his hands and knees laughing so hard he was almost choking to death. Despite that, he noticed that there seemed to be a certain degree of transparency to the cake that had just hit Byakuya, scaring him a little before dismissing it as an optical illusion. Usually, he could easily control his emotions and act according to the situation, but he was currently rather drunk, so it couldn't be helped that he lost quite a bit of that control, causing all kinds of emotions to pop up uncontrolled. Additionally, although Yuna had already knocked out two people, neither of them were wounded by her, and they would probably be good to go again in a day or two. On top of that, seeing the haughty Kuchiki clan put down a peck or two was an absolute blast for Shinsui. Ignoring Shinsui's rampant laughter, Yuna walked towards Tosen and shook her head in disappointment. "What are you even doing? Why has Aizen's betrayal already been made public before he could capture his target? I'm starting to doubt the competence of your organization somewhat." Hearing Yuna's words, Tosen couldn't help but grit his teeth. Obviously, he wasn't happy that Yuna critiqued Aizen, but there was nothing much he could counter her words with except for a hollow "Everything is going according to plan". However, before Tosen could come up with an excuse, Ichigo interrupted the conversation. "YUNA!? WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?" Hearing Ichigo's yell, Yuna shrugged her shoulder in indifference while looking at Ichigo. "Well, I decided that going with Aizen would be more fun, so there you go." "WHAT!? HOW CAN YOU BETRAY US LIKE THAT!?" Hearing the word "betray" Yuna could only shake her head dismissively. Obviously, she hated betrayals; she always made that rather clear. But even if she didn't plan to mess around with Aizen in secret, she wouldn't consider her current act a betrayal. After all, who was she betraying? Seireitei? Since when was she part of that? Her classmates? Is that really a bond deep enough to be loyal to it? Her friends? What friends? She spent a few months with Ichigo and the others in the same classroom and occasionally talked with each other. Others might consider that friendship, but, due to her high age, she didn't. Obviously, she wouldn't abandon them at the drop of a hat, but she had other things that took priority over them without a doubt. As for Hinata and Naruto, they knew her. She had not even a sliver of a doubt that as soon as those two heard that Yuna had sided with Aizen, they would instantly figure out what she was planning. So, a smirk appeared on Yuna's face as she looked at Ichigo mockingly, continuing her play. "Betray? Hehe, what made you think I was on your side, Ichigo? You are too naive and trusting. Did you think I wanted to come here so safe, Rukia, someone who is pretty much a stranger to me? Don't make me laugh. If you want to support a group, it's obvious to go for the strongest one, no? Since Aizen has been playing with the whole city of Seireitei for years now, isn't it obvious to choose him over a bunch of random school kids?" Hearing Yuna's mocking words, Ichigo's anger exploded, and he charged Yuna recklessly. Seeing Ichigo's charge, Yuna could only shake her head in disappointment. "What is this all about? Have you grown..." *Clang* Ichigos sword collided with Yuna's index finger, resulting in the sound of metal hitting a hard object reverberating over the execution grounds, as not even a small scratch appeared on Yuna's finger. "... weaker?" Blood started oozing out of Ichigo's mouth as he looked at the single finger that had just blocked his sword strike in disbelief. However, before he could even figure out what was going on, Yuna resumed speaking. "Oh? Now I see it. I see, I see. Your inner hollow got set free, and you are currently struggling with it, huh? What a pity. You should solve your little hollow problem as soon as possible, as things are about to get messy." As Yuna finished speaking, her gaze landed on the sword she was currently blocking, followed by it wandering toward Ichigo's crotch. "Out of curiosity, did it grow after your sword shrunk?" Hearing Yuna go for another "big sword equals small dick" joke, a tick mark appeared on Ichigo's face as he reeled back his swords and slashed at Yuna yet again. "STOP MAKING THESE JOKES!!!" Unfortunately, just like Renji before him, Ichigo found himself spinning through the air and crashing into the ground seconds later. However, unlike Renji, he was still conscious. As soon as Ichigo crashed onto the ground, silence washed over the execution ground that was only broken by someone smashing his fist on the ground while laughing like a maniac and occasionally choking and coughing. In hindsight, "silence" was probably not the right word to choose. Anyway, moments later, another piece of white clothing appeared, briefly forming a sphere before disappearing, revealing Aizen and Gin underneath it. "Took you long enough. As you can see, I'm already done here, so let's go." After looking around, Aizen briefly wondered what in the world had happened here. He was especially curious about why Shinsui seemed to be pretty close to choking to death due to excessive laughter and why a few of the knocked-out people appeared to be covered in cake. Despite his curiosity, he decided not to bother with these matters for now, as there were more important things to do now. "Very well, let's finish this. Please hand over Kuchiki Rukia." "O-Oi, Yuna, you didn't actually side with Aizen, right?" Although Rukia had been rather quiet the whole time, only letting the insanity play out in front of her, now that things were actually happening, she could only speak up. Hearing Rukia's question, Yuna simply shrugged her shoulder as she answered Rukia by tossing her towards Aizen, who easily caught her. "Geez, I really wonder about that~"
