The cast before him had performed orchestrally up to now. Each of the masked and their weapons acting as musician and instrument, coming together to form a symphony that would dismay the Commander, stopping the eventuality of the trio being torn limb from limb. The art of warfare was a brutal one, but a beautiful one all the same. It was no surprise that the esteemed Kido Chief was the most confident, and perhaps troublesome of the two—perhaps to some who only had the opportunity to understand Tenzen on a surface level would be surprised by his behavior, surprised by his demeanor and taunts. Higen—on the other hand—was not. The Oda are savages. Always have been, and will continue to be. They breed for war, and it is for this reason the warrior-clan has been reinstated under Commander Kagayaki’s watchful eye. It is for this reason that the patriarch sits in a c46 chair. It is for this reason, that Tenzen stands before him today. Even still, Captain Oda is one of the more elite minds in all of the Gotei, perhaps one of the more dangerous ones as well. His mind, and the hollow fighting for dominion over his soul—are the reasons Higen vowed himself to be Tenzen’s executioner just over a century ago. As long as Higen lives, he is the contingency.
Lieutenant Arashi to no surprise, had learned a great deal of ferocity from his Captain. He mimicked his very shadow, from the poise of his blade to the silence and fluidity of his movements—it was apparent who had been his teacher through the decades. A master of emotionless combat, the expressionless second in command carries a grin that is even more still once donning his mask. Higen cannot help but feel the blade of resent at his throat. The lieutenant had come a long way, sure—but just how haunting was the memory of Sword Eater?—or perhaps, the man who sent him to face such a foe? Higen’s mind a steel trap, able to recall the smallest of conversations even from a century ago. With most of his own capable shinigami indisposed, it was Higen who sent Lieutenant Suta to deal with the adjuchas threat. His life, which at the time was hanging by the smallest of threads, was only compromised because of the former Tenth Division Captain’s orders. Did the quiet, recluse of a shinigami bear Higen ill will? Or perhaps his hollow was spitting poison into his mind, whispering vile and cruel thoughts with a forked tongue.
Kyomu’s disciple, perhaps fallen too far from her roots and teachings, seemed..
excited to face the Commander. A more than capable hand-to-hand combatant—this was proven over their past century at arms, but it is the commander who is proven, unrivaled, and undoubtedly the most dangerous in this department. Her lack of distance from him is discerning, putting herself in the most immediate harm amongst the three. Already released in her bankai, it was clear she was no imbecile—she understood the assignment, and she had every hope of completing it. Though, hope was a fickle resource. Most times it instilled a falseness in most, a confidence that would never reach the reality of its potential. It showed the spider the fly and then ripped it from its webb. Perhaps Captain Yugure was the spider, but it would be a mistake for her to consider Higen a fly by any means. No, The Captain Commander of the Gotei 13 was the massive boot that tore the web asunder. He was the downpour of rain that washed away any and all insects or like-kind. To him, she was a
bug to be crushed, her bankai nothing but a vile and disgusting hive for her to hide within. He would set it ablaze.
Commander Kagayaki is not oblivious, not the mindless brute many assume him to be. Did the Kido chief think that Higen did not know of Kokuzo’s strengths, or its ability to turn the tsunami of emerald into nothingness among the golden mist? Many things happen in succession, the other Vizards following in the 5th Division Captain’s lead, but it is in this moment the Head Captain’s true efforts come to fruition. In truth he had no intentions of ensnaring the Fifth Division duo with the crystal, an effort such as that was fruitless. Arashi, outrageous in his speed, able to surely evade the crystal that encroached from the ground. Tenzen, wields the crutch that is Kokuzo, a magician of a zanpakuto--able to make even the most powerful of things, cease to exist. The crystal spreads out violently to meet with the golden mist that approaches in a sweeping wave from the opposite momentum. It is in a one second interval, in that first pulsation of Higen’s reiryoku through the crystal, just before the mist reaches it, that Hitsumishi acts autonomously. The crystal bedding explodes, creating a rain of shards that only exist for another half second before its erasure within Tenzen’s golden mist. Through the scurried dust of the eruption, visibility becomes limited. Within the haze a gleam of emerald light can be seen from those that seek distance from him. The amount of shining entities grows, multiplies, expounds, and becomes larger by perception’s sake as focused,
diamond-shaped projectiles of Higen’s own powerful reiryoku approach Both Tenzen and the airborne Arashi by the thousands. Their velocity reminiscent of missiles, each honed in on the trajectory at which the wave of crystal was on formerly--tracking, hawking, seeking the immediate destruction of the two fifth division shinigami.
Simultaneously, Lieutenant Suta’s own actions take place at Higen’s localized location. The Masked shinigami’s zanpakuto had surrounded them in the midst of it all, every particle of light able to be weaponized around them. It was impressive, such usage and mastery of one’s zanpakuto. Attacking in a joint effort was clearly the best strategy, but what was its outcome? Was the magnitude of each attack enough. There is a thin line between confidence, ignorance, and doubt. He had felt inklings of all three oozing out the pores of the vizard combatants. Here they stood, just one-hundred years after they stared the death that is Shobatsu Murosaki into the face. It is his sword they see in their nightmares, his fist that haunts them, the crushing fist of his spiritual pressure that cripples them in the mind. And yet, they act as if they do not stand before the only man to have trained with such a monster for centuries. The man who has learned every piece of combat experience there was to digest form perhaps the most dangerous shinigami to ever exist. They feared Shobatsu, they
would fear Higen.
It is clear that Higen’s adversaries had rested on the progress they have made over the last one-hundred years. Did they think the Commander was without progress? Were they unaware that every step they took forward Higen had taken two? While they were forced to fight one monster he has spent the century battling three. The particles of light surround the titanic man with no time to react or respond. Once again, they are ignorant to the fact that he has no intentions of doing so anyways. From every plausible direction these beams of light eclipse the Commander’s frame, shielding him from view for a moment. The sound of the assault echoes throughout the area
Dink’ Dink’ Dink’ Dink’ Dink’ Dink’ Dink’
Like the sound of bullets cascading against its target, the light beams strike. The sound is devastating, the impact causing the wind to shift in measure. The attack did such a considerable amount of…
Nothing.
The light refracts against the Commander’s skin, each projectile bouncing off of his flesh as he remains unblemished. The reflected beams of light rise into the sky and bounce along the area like ricocheting bullets. The ignorance that was hiding behind the usage of effective tactics and a dazzling offensive reveals itself now. It was idiotic to assume that the Crystal surrounding the commander before being erased was to protect him from harm. All of this time, and they were still learning. Maybe they weren’t ready. Hitsumishi’s crystals were not used as armor, Higen’s very flesh is the most impenetrable armor. Combined with his
Senren, Higen’s natural durability mimics near-invincibility. Maybe there was a lack of understanding, or perhaps even memory. The man bears no full scars. The only blade to ever breach his flesh in close to one-thousand years is the sharpest blade in all of Soul Society; the blade that can cut through
anything. And even this, was over a century ago--whereas Higen’s ability to further enforce the senren has since increased tenfold.
“Die”, Lieutenant Suta says; an insult beyond measure. Through his threats, and Captain Oda’s laughter the Commander’s stoicism remains unchanged. As the commander remains unphased from the attack of enforced light, he has ignored it entirely to deal with the relentless little catfish, flapping about in the mud beneath. Just as the crystals heading toward Captain Oda and lieutenant Arashi Explode before the creeping mist wipes them away, so too does the crystal that surrounded Higen. The explosion itself creates a light in the darkness, severing the tendrils that looked to ensnare him, the wave of black was split into many pieces, if not simply delayed. Higen quickly adjusts his posture to shift his weight downward, the moment that Captain Yugure’s grasp locks around the Commander’s leg, he uses her grip against her. In a quick fluid motion he flicks his right leg, the leg in which she had made contact with, upward like trying to facilitate a skyward kick. With her attached, resisting its momentum was an impossibility. He flings the woman upward, controlling his force so that she rests airborne just in front of his face. Before she could blink, act, manipulate her body weight, form a reishi plate beneath either foot or birth a cero from her hollow-stained lips the Commander has made a full rotation. Three-hundred and Sixty degrees he spins, rotating with enough momentum and weight to create an orbit. It all came to life so quickly, perhaps her, or any of the others had time to see the second leg of the Shining Knight swing by to initiate a roundhouse kick directly into the free-target’s abdomen. A vacuum of air causes a delay in the show of force. The air behind her body splits and fractures from the kick’s power alone. The strongest shinigami alive delivers a point-blank blow to an obviously lost little girl. When the delay is over, she is sent hurling backwards with rocket-like velocity. She even whistles as her body travels close to one thousand yards in distance, crashing through buildings and structures of all kinds as the attack’s impact was enough to split her mask in two without even targeting her head. Had he targeted her head, the Gotei 13 would be short a Captain. The kick sends a shockwave that the other two would be unable to ignore, halting them in their movements, in their speech; Had a barrier not been formed around the designated training area such a simple attack would have continued its path of destruction in dynamic fashion, ripping roofs from barracks and reducing Sogyoko hill to rocks and rubble. The utilization of such a weak spell by Captain Yugure meant nothing to the Commander who had broken out of a far stronger spell just seconds before. Her confidence in its usage led to her demise.
Internal bleeding, cracked or completely shattered ribs were all-but guaranteed. Yasu was more durable than most, and Higen was proud of her efforts even still.
