Danger

Arrival
"No... So soon?" came to Isshin's thoughts as he stopped, mid-fight, with his son.

Ichigo stared back at him with a mixed look of confusion and annoyance. "Old man, what i-" And then, even to the young trainee, the spiritual pressure of three newcomers arose in his senses as well.

But before Ichigo could respond, Isshin stepped forward. "Stay here." And with that, he departed with a flash step, leaving Ichigo behind.

It didn't take long for the Shinigami father to arrive in the skies of Karakura, catching the eye of the three arrivals.

Byakuya looked on in silence as Hitsugaya lowered his gaze slightly. "Captain Shiba... No. Make that, criminal defectee Isshin Shiba." finally spoke Byakuya.

Isshin would only respond with a light smirk. "It only took you guys a couple decades..."

"Then... I take it you will not come quietly?" Hitsugaya would remark afterwards.

Isshin stared with a quiet expression, as Byakuya then stepped forward. "By the decree of Soul Society and Central 46, you are hereby placed under arrest for the act of desertion. You will be brought to Soul Society to await sentencing." he declared.

"Getsuga... Tenshō!" roared a voice from behind, as a large blue wave of spiritual energy crashed into the Soul Society visiting party.

The dust soon cleared, revealing that the one named Byakuya had blocked it effortlessly with the brush of his arm.

"...Identify yourself, rogue." the Captain ordered.

Isshin quickly grit his teeth, "Ichigo, what are you doing?!"

It was indeed Ichigo, who stood in the air on the opposite side, wielding his cleaver-shaped Zanpakutō Shikai in hand. "I don't need to give my name to any of you. Now what is your business here?" he answered.

"Ichigo, get out of here! What are you doing?!" roared out Isshin in defiance.

Annoyed, Ichigo gave him the stinkeye. "Shut it, old man. God knows if I left, these morons would friggin' wipe you out. Weakass."

Hitsugaya's eyes narrowed. "Judging by their conversation... I'd say his name is Ichigo Shiba, and is the Captain's son." the other Captain would remark.

Ichigo then turned to look over at him as well. "My name's not Shiba, shortie. It's Kurosaki. Ichigo Kurosaki." he retorted

"Kurosaki? But that's..." Hitsugaya's thoughts were than interupted by Renji's movements forward. "Captain Kuchiki. Captain Hitsugaya. Allow me to deal with the interloper." he'd suggest.

Hitsugaya closed his eyes, "No objections." Byakuya turned to face Isshin. "Do as you like, Lieutenant Abarai. But failure will not be tolerated."

Renji stepped forward, unsheathing the blade at his hip as Ichigo held his own blade at the ready.

The Power of Soul Society
Without hesitation, Ichigo charged in, swinging his blade down on Renji's own blade, whom parried the attack.

"Heh... not bad, for a human." Renji remarked, slowly pushing Ichigo back.

Ichigo, in turn, returned the smirk. "Human? I'm a Shinigami!" he firmly declared, pushing Renji back with brute force. "Don't ever lump me together with those inferior beings living below us! Getsuga... Tenshō!" Ichigo fired a massive energy wave from the tip of the blade, as Renji prepared to block it.

But it wasn't all. The energy attack crashed into Renji's blade, the resulting explosion blocking the red-haired Shinigami's sights. Ichigo quickly flashed into the shroud of smoke, using flash steps to circle the blinded Renji.

"Is this a joke?!" roared Renji, swinging his blade to the side, only to hit nothing but air.

"Wrong!" Ichigo answered, whom was immediately on Renji's opposite side. Another swing of the blade caused a wave of energy to escape the edge, crashing into Renji and sending him flying clear out of the cloud of smoke. Renji reassumed his footing, as Ichigo reappeared outside of the smoke, facing down Renji.

"So this is the extent of a Gotei's soldier? I thought you'd be tougher." Ichigo mused.

"Roar..." Renji started.

Ichigo rose an eyebrow at to what he was saying.

"Zabimaru!" Renji's blade instantly transformed, losing its former appearance of a standard katana and turned into a 6-part segmented blade. Each segment is wider than the one preceding it from the hilt, with 2 pick-like protrusions on the front and back of each segment, with the ones on the front much longer than the ones on the back.

Before Ichigo could react, Renji swung the blade down as the segments disconnected and separated into a blade-like whip, the protrusions crashing right into Ichigo, three of them stabbing deep into his shoulder, causing a look of utter shock and surprise to cover the orange-haired teen's face. Blood from his shoulder splattered into the sky as Renji pulled his sword back, dragging the pick-like protrusions forcibly from the man's shoulder, causing even more blood to splatter out. The segments re-connected as Renji flashed forward, slamming his heel right into the injured Ichigo's stomach.

Almost to the point of actually vomiting saliva and blood, Ichigo was sent tunneling for the ground below with a loud crash. Renji turned to face the two Captains. "It's done with."

Decision
The three faced Isshin, whose face was riddled with fear and concern for his son's welbeing.

But these were short-lived. A massive torrent of spiritual pressure shook the air around the combatants, as Ichigo returned, his eyes glowing brightly blue, as he swung his blade down, hoping to decapitate the red-haired man who had sent him flying earlier.

Renji, however, merely twisted his body some, using his sword to block Ichigo's own swing with ease. In addition, he noticed how severe Ichigo's shoulder was bleeding, evident from how weak the swing was in comparison to Ichigo's earlier strikes. Renji brought his hand up and held it in front of Ichigo's face. "If you don't stop... you'll die." the Lieutenant warned, a red orb of spiritual energy began to gather at his fingertips.

"Enough!" Isshin spoke out, catching the attention of the two Captains, the Lieutenant, and his son.

"I will go with you peacefully... just leave Ichigo out of this." Isshin declared.

Ichigo stared with shock. "Old... man... What are you tal-!" But was stopped suddenly by Renji's knee slammed into his stomach, causing him to lose his breath in that instant.

"You were saved this time, moron. Next time, I'll crush your head through the pavement." Renji declared as he rejoined the Captains' side. In the next instant, the same gates as before appeared, opening to reveal a bright white light inside. Renji stepped inside, followed by Hitsugaya and then Byakuya whom was grasping Isshin's wrists.

Before Ichigo could protest any further, the gates closed... and his father was gone, along with the three visitors.


 * END