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This article, Pacifying the Shadowlands, is the fourth chapter of the War on Two Fronts arc, which is part of Bleach: Cataclysm. It features Itazura Kori and Reizo Kyoji as the primary characters, and is written jointly by Kenji-Taichō and Razo.
Itazura crushed a report in his clenched fist in an irritated manner. As the Gotei Remnant warred with the Six Directions he was free to build the Blades of Night's Veil without fear of attack, but he was beginning to doubt his course. Kentaro was like a brother to him and he was essentially abandoning him.
He cast the paper into the wind and turned to regard a young messenger. On his right arm was a piece of black cloth emblazoned with a white sword: the symbol of the Blades.
"Send word to Jack. Tell him I've put the group of thugs he mentioned in his report to the sword." He paused for a moment, his conscience niggling at him. "Afterwards tell Mariko that she's to watch the Gotei Remnant more closely and keep Kentaro appraised of further developments. That's all."
As the young man bounded off Itazura was left overlooking a pile of corpses, all dead by his own hand.
The smell of blood and dead bodies hung in the air, causing it to seem heavy and almost impossible to move in. An adult sized figure could be seen approaching the area along with two others following behind him on the ground and one bounding through the air. Each of these figures were clad in a black cloak that covered their faces. Stopping at the mound of bodies, the group let out a cohesive gasp, with the man in front removing his hood to get a better view about the area.
"What happened here!? Who killed these men?" The lead figure held his arm to his nose as the stench began to irritate him. Seeing the weapons strewn about the area, he shook his head in disbelief.
One of the other hooded figures approached him from behind, placing a hand on his shoulder.
"Rei. This was simply a slaughter. I'd say a recent one, based on the smell in the air. There was nothing you could do to stop this."
"That's not true!" Rei returned in a slight snarl. "I could've been faster. I could've protected these people. No one needed to die!"
Movement in the midst of what was supposed to be a mass grave naturally caught Itazura's attention but he held back. In the past he would have leapt into the fray headlong without a backwards look but he couldn't afford to be like that right now. The refugees piling into the Shadowlands in the hope of avoiding the warring factions in the Reikai needed him.
So he contented himself to wait.
At present Itazura oversaw the entire sight which had seen the ends of so many gangsters, by his own hand. He stood atop a raised cliff overlooking the massacre. The movement he had caught earlier began to take form as the party moved closer.
"Acquaintances of my dead friends perhaps?"
He made no movement to conceal his presence. Instead he caressed the hilt of his Zanpakutō in anticipation of what was likely to be another battle.
"We should go." One of the cloaked figures approached the two, revealing a blonde woman. "We don't want to be here, when whoever did this comes back."
Removing the hand from his shoulder and giving a sideways glance towards the blonde woman, Rei shook his head.
"No. I want to know who slaughtered so many people. What did they do to deserve this? Why didn't they try to sort things out without resorting to violence? ARGH!" Reizo scratched his head frantically as questions raced through his head.
The woman approached Reizo and hugged him from behind. "It'll be ok Rei. We can't save them, but we can make sure things like this don't happen again. We'll protect the refugees and prevent anymore reckless slaughter. Right Naoya?"
"R-r-right. Yea, we'll protect everyone."
Answering as he was caught off-guard while examining the fresh blood flowing from one of the bodies near his foot, Naoya shifted his body to hide it from Reizo's view. He motioned his eyes toward the blonde woman, trying to get her to notice just how fresh these wounds actually were.
"Let's get moving. We shouldn't waste anymore time here." Naoya smiled to his friend as he held a hand on his own Zanpakuto.
Noticing his companions' strange mannerisms, Reizo noticed something was afoot, but paid it no mind as he nodded in agreement.
"Yes. Let's go. I don't want to be here any longer than I should." Turning to face the large mass of bodies, Reizo bowed and said a small prayer before rising again and began continuing into the shadowlands with his allies.
"I'll avenge all of you. Your deaths will not have been in vain and I'll bring your killer to justice."
The group no doubt where surprised when they turned around. Itazura had flash-stepped from his heightened perch and moved behind the unknown group. His silver-coloured hair and white under-shirt had been streaked with blood and his jacket was so thoroughly drenched with the stuff that it had dyed the colour of it! His Zanpakutō, which was propped against his shoulder with the blade glistening, completed the image of a demon. His scarred face and half-smile only further the demonic undertone of the youth's appearance.
"It seems I missed some." He tutted at that. "I even sent the kid ahead saying things where clear. Guess I jumped the gun again."
Startled, the four jumped away from the man, grabbing ahold of their weapons in the process as they accessed the situation.
"Tch. I wanted to avoid this. Miyako. Sayuri. Take Rei and go. I'll hold this clown back. He doesn't look like the kind of guy who wants to mince words, but rather mince bodies. Heh." Naoya smiled as he drew his zanpakuto and pointed it at the man covered in blood in a taunting manner.
Stopping while holding up Reizo, who was still in a daze, Miyako turned to look at Naoya with a worried look upon her face.
"Are you crazy? He slaughtered all of these people and you want to fight him yourself? You might be strong, but we don't have any data on him. It goes against good reason to fight him. Our goal is to find out who's running things here in the Shadowlands not fig--" Before she could finish, Naoya held up a hand causing her to stop mid-sentence.
"Hey shit-for-brains. You the one responsible for this? I don't think you'll be walking away from this one unscathed. We're bringing you in, sorry 'bout that." Naoya quipped as he motioned for Miyako to get going.
Itazura used the surprise factor of his sudden appearance to further analyse the group while he still had some peace to do it.
"Just my luck." Itazura remarked. "Take me in? I would have to stumble onto the Justice League." He chuckled at his own joke whilst massaging his left shoulder, which was seemingly causing him some discomfort. "Where you in league with these guys?"
He kicked the nearest corpse - a woman - to represent who he meant resulting in a pained grunt from said body, which made Itazura raise his eyebrow in question. "One survived? Oh for the love of-" He sighed.
"I'm losing it, I swear."
He then pierced the poor fool through the back. She reached out towards the group standing opposed to Itazura with a shaking hand, but she soon lost what little strength she had and her hand dropped to the ground as her breathing stilled.
Naoya looked on in a mix of horror and anger as he brandished his blade and removed the smile from his face, replacing it with a glare.
"You bastard. I thought I was a little dark in my thoughts, but you're just sick. She was defenseless, you already won. I'm gonna thrash you about for her and all of these other innocents. I hope you're read--ready?" Stopping as he felt a pulse through the air, Naoya looked up at the man in front of him and noticed no change as he felt the pulse again.
"What the hell?"
"Um...Naoya? Its Rei." Sayuri spoke as Rei's body began glowing with a bright light, his spiritua aura pouring from his body.
Stepping forward, Reizo removed Sayuri and Miyako's hands from his body as he stared at the ground. His aura still glowing around his body, Rei continued past Naoya, speaking in a low tone.
"What did you just do?"
Naoya reached out to grab Reizo and stop him. "Hey man. Hey! What do you think you're--shit!" As he reached to touch his companion, Naoya's hand was burned in the process. Left with little choice, he was left to leave Rei to his own devices, readying himself to defend his friend as Rei contined toward the man.
"I asked you a question....What did you just do?" Rei continued forward as the volume in his voice increased. "WHAT THE HELL DID YOU JUST DO!? She didn't have to die! You swine! You coward! She had a family! People that loved her! A life to continue living! And you ended it all here!? For what!?"
Shaking with anger, Rei looked up at the man in front of him. "I'm going to make you pay. I wish I got here sooner to save these people, whoever they were, from a monster like you. You're someone who can't be left alone and I'm going to make sure you regret hurting these people." Drawing his blade, Reizo readied himself for battle.
"I hope you're ready."
Itazura rolled his eyes as if he had already had this conversation a hundred times before.
"I sent a message." Itazura remarked. "You wouldn't understand. This is a different world. Instead of asking who this woman and all the rest are you should ask who they could hurt, and how. That woman right there for example? Drug dealer. She made three kids in a nearby village overdose. Two died. There's a man around here somewhere who ran a trafficking operation. Should someone like that be allowed to run free? I could go on. One more?" Itazura's face was hard as stone; it was clear he wasn't lying. "The guy you just walked over liked little girls so I bled him slowly."
Itazura then leveled his Zanpakutō at the boy's head.
"Kid... you should ask yourself if you're ready. Come or don't; just stop wasting my time."
"Lies. All lies. Why should I believe a murderer?! How could I believe anyone who cut down a whole lot of people? There could have been a way to end things peacefully!" Reizo shouted as he pulled his blade down to his side as he activated his Flash Steps, appearing above the man in front of him in and attempt bifuricate the man through the shoulder.
Lowering his own weapon, Naoya sighed. "Miyako. Sayuri. Be prepared to step in at any time. If things start to go badly, we're going in."
"So be it." Itazura remarked, almost in a whisper, with almost sad undertones.
A trail of the purest silver spiritual power surrounded his blade for the briefest of moments as Itazura side-stepped a fraction. His own movement enabled him to swiftly retract his Zanpakutō from where he had it levelled at Reizo's head earlier in order to perform a rising slash. He caught his foes attack on his own blade and shunted forward, resulting in Reizo flipping over the top to land somewhere behind Itazura.
"Peace?" Itazura scoffed. "You have no idea how 'peace' is won. When the people live in fear of their lives on a daily basis and those in charge do nothing, all that is born is tyranny! You see my actions as under-handed, brutal, inhumane? Perhaps even tyrannical? You aren't the first nor will you be the last. But I know this for a fact: every time I put a group like this to the sword, the next group are more likely to give in without a fight, and the people who would have become their targets enjoy some deserved peace." Itazura, it seemed, was addressing the whole party. "People sleep peacefully in their beds at night only because rough men like me are ready and willing to do violence on their behalf."
"Why is it types likes you that always spout off about violence as though its the only means to achieve peace?" Sliding back after easily being deflected, Reizo traced his hand in the air before he continued. "When you can understand one another and come to terms, there is always another way to solve a situation. But, I guess thugs like you will just never understand."
As he continued to trace his hand through the air, Reizo began using his other to move his Zanpakuto in an arc around his body. "Roppō Fūjin." As he stated the Kekkai spell, several large green constructs appeared around Itazura's position, effectively locking him in place. Following this, Reizo finished tracing his swords around his body and had created two rows of what seemed to be identical katana that floated behind him.
"Time to skewer you and put an end to this."
Charging at his opponent, Reizo aimed each of the twelves swords at Itazura in an attempt to end his life in one attack.
The smallest hint of a smile crept across Itazura's face. "... If that's how you want to play this... Then fine by me."
He concentrated on the energy forming the Kidō barrier until he could literally see how it was held together. He was no good with the casting of Bakudō but he was an expert at dispelling and destroying even the best and strongest of them. He found where the energy was weakest and, with a flash of silver spiritual power coupled with a precise Neijing strike, the barrier collapsed!
"You'll have to try harder."
What appeared like lightning momentarily coated Itazura's limbs and he circled Reizo before the blades approached, before rapidly switching so he was approaching the young man from the sides, away from his layer of blades. Itazura's own blade poised to strike it was clear to see: he intended to cut the young man clean through with one strike!
Throwing up an arm in order to defend himself from the sudden attack, Reizo erected a barrier directly beside him. "Millón Escudo!" A barrier the size of a window appeared beside Reizo's body in an attempt to block the attack. However, the velocity of the sword swing coupled with the sheer strength behind the attack, rendered the barrier useless, as the blade of Itazura's Zanpakuto shredded flesh and sent Reizo careening back.
"What are you doing!? Release your damn Zanpakuto already you shitty bastard!" Shouting from the sidelines, Naoya held himself back from jumping into the fight himself.
Turning Naoya around by the shoulder, Miyako shouted. "Are you crazy!? Rei's ability isn't fit for direct combat. Are you trying to get him killed? Huh?!" She stopped as she saw Naoya smile,
"Learn to have a bit of faith. He isn't as weak as you think. In fact, in this sort of situation, he just might shock you."
Looking at the blood from his arm and his allies' worried expressions, Reizo sighed as he gripped his blade and returned it to its sheath. "You're right. No need to hold back if I want to get answers and bring this guy to justice. Rise up, Mimei!" A bright light shone from the sheath as he drew the sword once more, revealing an onyx-colored sword with a lime green blade.
Holding his hand out as he swung his Zanpakuto in front of him, Reizo motioned for his opponent to attack.
"I'd keep your friend out of this if I where you." Itazura advised Miyako. He then turned to Reizo once more. "Now that we have a slight lull... let me ask something."
He figured he may as well make one more attempt to reason with this boy... or he really would have to kill him. The look he cast Reizo, however, would have easily cut through hardened steel.
"You want answers... Yet I've already told you why I killed these people and when I did you declared me a liar and a murderer. I'll certainly admit that you're half right, but I only lie to woman to get them to go to bed with me. Last I looked your a guy; you look a little like a girl, sure, but you're still a guy."
He started pacing then.
"And all this talk of justice! You remind me of somebody I used to know... Somebody I buried after the Collapse. Boy did that guy prattle on." What Reizo didn't know is that Itazura was actually talking about himself back in the day when things where simple. "I'd love to follow that path but when drug dealers and child traffickers are running amok and those who are supposed to protect them do nothing, I suppose that's when we vigilantes come in. That's what we Blades do: we protect the little man. Peace and justice aren't black and white: they come in shades of grey, and sometimes they run red."
"You hear that? The Blades are the ones in this area it seems. Looks like we stumbled right upon what we were looking for." Naoya smiled as he leaned in toward Miyako and whispered. "I want to see this play out now. Maybe we'll gain a bit more info as well."
Rei clenched his zanpakuto firmly in one hand as he began to shake with anger. "What do you know? Drug dealers, traffickers, prostitutes; all the people may be doing the wrong job, but maybe its all they know. Maybe its what they grew up around so its the only trade that they know. Justice saves lives, instead of taking them away. You want to run justice red? Then that's not justice at all! Once you step onto that crumbling edge, its a slippery slope into being nothing more that a mere brigand vigilante."
Raising his blade to the man in front of him, Rei sighed. "Its funny though. You say all these people were guilty of crimes, yet you have yet to fully admit to being completely guilty of murder. As far as I can tell, you aren't the law around here. So now, its time to bring you in to the authorities." With a swing of his Zanpakuto, three rounded platforms appeared before Rei. He then proceeded to jump on each of them, rising into the sky with each jump, causing the previous platform to vanish with wach ascension. After reaching the top, Rei jumped once more into the air before creating a platform at his feet; that he then used to propel himself downward toward Itazura at high speeds, aiming to cleave the man in twaine.
"I'm guilty of murder on multiple accounts." Itazura acknowledged. "But you don't get it. There is no normal 'law' out here, except for me."
Itazura realized he wasn't dodging that attack in traditional form. His foe was too fast for that at the moment. Instead he jabbed the air whilst employing the Nagakura clan's reverse-striking method. He transmitted the force of his jab through the air and struck the edge of Rei's Zanpakutō; this altered the young man's swing, and instead of cleaving Itazura in two he was instead forced into a blade-lock with him.
"Your guilty of an overblown sense of justice." Itazura remarked, looking into Rei's eyes. "That isn't deserving of death. Leave. Now."
Locking blades with Itazura. Reizo clenched his teeth. "You're the one who doesn't get it. You don't have the right to take the life of another, regardless of the reason. Who says what you did is the right thing? They have families, people that love them, someone who will feel the pain of a broken heart upon learning of their deaths. Yet you claim you're in the right? What gives you such a self-righteous mindset? You're just one those types that uses their strength to force their views on those weaker than themselves. Disgusting."
"Rei....." Miyako had a worried expression as she began to walk towards Reizo before being caught on the wrist by Naoya.
Pulling Miyako back, Naoya shook his head. "Let him be. He needs this."
"Why don't you just surrender and let us bring you in?!" Reizo swung his zanpakuto about his body creating several blades that he then sent flying towards Itazura's position.
"Aren't you doing the same thing?" Itazura asked, grinning. "You're trying to strong-arm me into accepting your justice. So let me ask you the same thing: what makes you so self-righteous?"
Itazura twisted around the first blade, slashed the second aside, grunted as the third pierced his left shoulder, and then flash-stepped clear of the rest. He looked at the wound and rolled his eyes in clear frustration. "... To hell with it. I'll live."
Itazura made a swirling motion with his right hand. The ground beneath Reizo began to tremble, like an earthquake was imminent! Then a silvery light erupted upwards!
"Reīssen."