Darkness Lifted

This article, , is the penultimate chapter of the Birth of the Tsuji story arc. It features Kenji and the Visored as mian characters.

Although she had earlier admitted to being careless it didn’t stop either Lisa or Hiyori releasing a master-class! The animalistic creatures were hard to kill true but they where also rather weak. They fell to one or two quick strikes aimed at important limbs, and with that the two female Visored easily dealt with the ambush.

“What an idiot!” Hiyori barked, in reference to Kenji.

“We can’t do anything to help directly,” Lisa noted, “but we can clear the way for him to escape with his friends.”

Hiyori seemed to light up at that explanation. She brought her hand to her face and pulled on her Hollow mask and proceeded to unleash unholy destruction on the unknown creatures surrounding her and Lisa! It was truly incredible. She never touched them physically once; her Zanpakutō cut through them like a hot knife through butter.

“I really don’t want to be helping Kenji out… But this isn’t the time for that!!”

“You’re being careless again.” Lisa said with a heavy sigh.

She donned her own lozenge-shaped Hollow mask and proceeded to cut swiftly through the lone figure approaching Hiyori from behind. Lisa’s swordsmanship shredded the hapless thing into multiple small chunks, though the eyes where still staring at her with a degree of life and presence that unnerved her.

“They aren’t natural.” She concluded.

“Who cares about that right now?” Hiyori barked. “Just kill ‘em!”

Meanwhile with Kenji.

This was the part that Kenji wished he hadn’t of been so stupidly blind. If he had just listened to Hiyori and Lisa instead of ploughing on like a fool then he wouldn’t be in his current predicament. Kusaka, although the most injured of the three, was also the first to regain consciousness. Right now he was leaning on a wall for support whilst simultaneously carrying Kazuma on his back.

“You certainly know how to make an entrance.” Kusaka remarked. “Too bad you’re shit at getting out again.”

The duo where surrounded on each side by animalistic creatures that had a vague human shape. But everything else was… warped. Some had standard arms and legs but others had the limbs of animals. Some even had wings! Kenji wasn’t even sure what it was he was looking at. They certainly weren’t Hollow – they didn’t have that kind of spiritual power. The same was true in regards to Quincy and Shinigami. If Kenji was going to call them anything… it’d be Chimera.

“No choice then…!”

Kusaka nearly landed on his arse because Kenji set Ino onto his other shoulder before turning to face what was essentially an army of animal-human hybrid creatures that seemed to be strangely and unnaturally coordinated.

“…Shunkō…!”

Pressurized Kidō surged along his back and arms but that entire forceful aura was soon passed to the edge of his Zanpakutō as he removed it from its sheath.

“Kyoaku… I know you’ll help me with this. Please, help me save my friends.”

Zanpakutō couldn’t normally be released in Kohai Tochi under any circumstance. But then Kenji wasn’t beckoning his Zanpakutō to help him out. The spirit he was addressing was the Quincy long ago sealed within his very soul. Kyoaku responded and spiritual power surged along the edge of Aoi Inazuma! He then donned his Hollow mask.

“Jitsugen!”

Meanwhile with Shinji and Kensei.

Shinji side-stepped a total of three times before he landed a single slash across the chest of his opponent to end their short match. At the same time Kensei dodged three quick pierces aimed at his head before catching his opponents face in his palm and throwing them to the floor in triumph.

“They’re too hot-headed.” Shinji declared.

He only donned his Hollow mask for a split second but the moment the pharaoh-esque mask appeared a red Cero blast was loosed from his fist! Kensei’s opponent was caught in the blast and didn’t rise to fight again, and Kensei returned his Zanpakutō to its sheath. One thing he had found out was that if a Zanpakutō had been released to Shikai prior to entering Kohai Tochi its power could still be used freely, though it could not progress to Bankai.

“Is that the last of them?” Kensei asked.

Shinji never answered. The two former Captains of the Gotei 13 turned quickly as a white-coloured blast streaked across the surface! It originated from Kenji’s source and judging by how quickly his spiritual power was falling quicker than a stone! It was safe to assume that he had put every last ounce of power he had left into that one attack. The fool was defenceless!

“I’m going!”

The moment Kenji had loosed the technique his mask shattered and the aura surrounding his back and shoulders vanished. The leader of the creatures he had blown to tiny bits had chosen that moment to strike and it appeared that although Kusaka was conscious he was in no fit state to render aid. A blade inched towards Kenji’s skull…

Kensei, for all his short-temperedness and earlier disdain for Kenji, saved the young mans life.

“Not today.” Kensei said.

He struck aside the person’s blade with his own and closed within to strike with a single power-packed Hakuda blow! His fist impacted the man’s chest and sent him falling backwards into the rend created by Kenji’s earlier attack.

“Kensei…”

“We’re leaving!” Shinji declared.

Kenji felt Kensei hoist him onto his shoulder but after that all he saw was blackness…

Next Story >.