Shinigami Savant Quest #62

You are Kusajishi Riku, Captain of the Seireitei Court Guard's Ninth Division, and you've begun to wonder how strange Ichigo and Tatsuki's classmates really are.

One of them, the blonde one with the enormous chest who seemed to be an old friend of Tatsuki's, seems to have an ability that exceeds what any human should be able to do: controlling space and time to “reverse” events. Her memories were restored somehow after being blocked by the Onmitsu at your request, meant as a safeguard for the students caught in the hollow attack where Tatsuki first awakened her abilities, and she's just reversed the injuries Ishida and Sado incurred in their brief fight with Muramasa. There's really no telling at this point what her ability may or may not be capable of achieving.

You sense a battle is brewing between Byakuya and an unfamiliar shinigami, which must be the senior Kuchiki freed by Muramasa. Other shinigami are arriving as well, and you can feel the world around you strain from the force of dozens if not hundreds of hollows pushing through the dangai to converge on the battlefield.

“Those powers,” Tenkotsuki mutters. “What she is doing defies the limits set for mere mortals. How is such a thing even possible?”

“I don't know,” you frown, “but as soon as Muramasa's dead I think we need to find out.”

“Hm?” the strange girl with the impossible ability looks at you in blissful ignorance. “Are you talking to me?”

“No,” you shake your head.

“She appears to be reversing changes in 'pattern', in the physical sense,” Tenkotsuki posits quietly, “essentially reverting an object to a previous state. I do not know how, nor do I know how closely Sado's current state mirrors his original state. Regardless, I believe that she is not an individual who should be left alone.”
>1/2

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youtube.com/watch?v=oVxx5JZXjE8
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You kneel next to the girl as she puts the finishing touches on Sado's wounds. “Did you come here alone, Inoue?”

She nods, still focused on the task of closing a deep slash across Ishida's chest. “I did. I looked for Tatsuki and Ichigo first, but neither of them are back yet. I'm worried... first everyone else seems to forget you and Kuchiki were ever here, then Tatsuki disappears with everyone else?”

“What if she doesn't come back?”

“She'll be back,” you assure Inoue, waving at Ishida as the light from the little dome above him briefly flickers. “Don't let me sidetrack you.”

“Right... sorry, Ishida.”

>When these two are back on their feet, head for the Kurosaki clinic. Tell them I sent you.
>I'm just going to move you there instead. The others can handle themselves for like two minutes.
>I'm going to phone someone. They'll be here to help shortly (Ryūken, Isshin, or Masaki)
>One of my subordinates will be here in a moment. They'll watch out for you.
>Other?

>One of my subordinates will be here in a moment. They'll watch out for you.
>When these two are back on their feet, head for the Kurosaki clinic. Tell them I sent you.

>I'm going to phone someone. They'll be here to help shortly (Ryūken, Isshin, or Masaki)
Does anyone else wonder if her powers could deal with Ishida's "performance issue"

>>When these two are back on their feet, head for the Kurosaki clinic. Tell them I sent you.

>I'm just going to move you there instead. The others can handle themselves for like two minutes.

>Call Ryūken.
>I'm just going to move you there instead. The others can handle themselves for like two minutes.
Can't trust the ditz to take care of herself. Also, on the scale of 1-10, how hard did her abilities rustle Riku's Jimmies?

>When these two are back on their feet, head for the Kurosaki clinic. Tell them I sent you.

>>One of my subordinates will be here in a moment. They'll watch out for you.

There'd be some rustling there I'd imagine. Tenkotsuki's at a solid 8 or 9.

>One of my subordinates will be here in a moment. They'll watch out for you.
>When these two are back on their feet, head for the Kurosaki clinic. Tell them I sent you.

>One of my subordinates will be here in a moment. They'll watch out for you.
>When these two are back on their feet, head for the Kurosaki clinic. Tell them I sent you.

>writing

Question dudes:, I've got a questions:
Should we use
That?

not now.

You take out your denreishinki and contact Hisagi, telling him to meet you at your current location but refusing to go into any greater detail. Then you turn to explain the situation to Inoue.

“Someone will be by here in a moment to look out for you,” you tell her. “When these two idiots are ready to be moved I want you to take them to the Kurosaki clinic. Tell them I sent you. Understand?”

Inoue nods quietly, and a few moments later Hisagi arrives. He initially balks at being assigned what to any shinigami's mind must seem like a glorified babysitting detail, but changes his tune when you remind him that three humans with spiritual powers will likely be targeted by hollows during the battle while everyone else is too busy to notice.

“When they're ready take her to the Kurosaki clinic in town, then rejoin us,” you tell him.

Next to him manifests a dark, wild-looking figure: Kazeshini, you figure. His sudden appearance startles the blonde girl behind him.

“You really gonna just take this?” Kazeshini demands.

Hisagi nods grimly. “I am. Those are my orders, and by extension they're yours as well.

“So unless you'd prefer it if I got stuck on cleaning duty for the next month or two...”

“Ugh!” Kazeshini grunts in disgust. “Hell no!”

“Good. Then we've got a job to do.”

You give Hisagi an approving nod, but a burst of reiatsu in the distance demands your attention. It takes you only a few moments to reach the scene, but what you find is disheartening: a veritable sea of gillians has pooled amid the low hills outside Karakura town, having dripped one by one from a crack in the sky like a leaky faucet. At the center of the formation is a smaller hollow, about the size of a Vasto Lorde, but with utterly inhuman features. The only things that tell you this was once Muramasa are the purplish-blue fringe around its waist and the slit in its mask, shaped like his sword's guard.
>1/2

You're not alone however. A corps of Onmitsu have come through to secure the area, along with their Commander Yoruichi. She stands next two two other Captains as they assess the situation: Hitsugaya to her left, and Suì Fēng to her right. Already Rangiku, Mirai, Kai, Renji, Madarame, and Ayasegawa have taken off towards the gillians to try and thin their numbers, each with their manifested zanpakuto in tow.

You take your place at Yoruichi's side.

"He finally lost it," she explains, knowing full well that she's simply stating the obvious to a degree. "If more gillians keep coming through like that we'll have to call for backup."

"How should we handle this?" Hitsugaya frowns. "We all have our personal reasons to fight Muramasa, but according to the Head Captain you have the best chance at killing him, Kusajishi."

>We'll take him together. Let our subordinates work on the Gillians.
>Can I count on you three to keep the small-fry off my back?
>Muramasa hasn't actually moved yet... maybe we can afford to deal with the Gillians first.
>Other?

>We'll take him together. Let our subordinates work on the Gillians.

>>>We'll take him together. Let our subordinates work on the Gillians.

>We'll take him together. Let our subordinates work on the Gillians.
youtube.com/watch?v=oVxx5JZXjE8

>Can I count on you three to keep the small-fry off my back?

>>We'll take him together. Let our subordinates work on the Gillians.

>I can't be so sure about Muramasa completely losing his marbles.
>This situation almost mirrors my first sortie in the human world.
>I can distract him, our subordinates can thin the numbers, but someone has to fix that metaphysical leaky faucet.

>Muramasa hasn't actually moved yet... maybe we can afford to deal with the Gillians first.

>We'll take him together. Let our subordinates work on the Gillians.
Ideally, Riku and Yoru will keep Muramasa tangled and distracted up close, Hitsugaya would go for a distanced lockdown to present Sui Feng with a KO blow.

Of course, an instant power up from Muramasa afterwards is not out of the question.

>Can I count on you three to keep the small-fry off my back?
>attempt to kick Muramasa into Hueco Mundo

>Can I count on you three to keep the small-fry off my back?

>writing

>Can I count on you three to keep the small-fry off my back?
Riku is the dreaded to Muramasa, if we bring them along, then he'll just go for the others instead of us. Riku keeps him occupied, they close the leaky faucet (or we kick Muramasa into Mexico via the open garganta) and we isolate muramasa from the rest.

Why do you retards want to feed Arturo?

They're trying to make a worthy foe for us, and are channeling their inner Vegeta to do so

“Yeah, fair enough,” you nod. “Let's kick his ass together.”

“I was hoping you'd say that,” Suì Fēng admits next to you. “I'll admit, this has gotten rather personal.”

The hollow that was once Muramasa lets loose another burst of powerful reiatsu, and despite the bravado it becomes clear exactly how many hollows he must have consumed to attain this level of raw spiritual power. This isn't a fight that can be won by taking half-measures.

“He wanted to witness my swords in action,” you comment with a wry grin. “This probably isn't what he intended, but it's the fate he earned himself.”

“Prohibit, Tenkotsuki!”

A chilly blast of air to your side tells you that Hitsugaya is going all-out from the start. “Bankai: Daiguren Hyōrinmaru!”

“Sting all enemies to death, Suzumebachi!” Suì Fēng releases her sword. It's not large or imposing in any way, but combined with shunkō you realize that it may be a key ability in defeating Muramasa quickly.

Yoruichi tosses one of her butterfly swords in a high arc above her head as she releases it. “Purr, Raijūsenkō!”

“We'll create an opening,” Yoruichi tells her younger protegee, the one who replaced you in that role after you made Captain. “Can you do it?”

“I have to do it,” Suì Fēng replies coolly. “It's not a matter of can and can't, but one of necessity.”
>3d10, DC 7

Rolled 1, 9, 10 = 20 (3d10)

Let's rock!

Rolled 9, 9, 7 = 25 (3d10)

Rolled 7, 5, 2 = 14 (3d10)

Rolled 7, 4, 4 = 15 (3d10)

Rolled 8, 4, 3 = 15 (3d10)

OH YEAH BABY! ALWAYS TRUST THE GUT FEELING!

...

Poor Muramasa

...

>niggas not realizing this is not even Muramasa's final form
The hint: Hitsugaya went for full Bankai already. We all know the outcome of that whenever it occurs.

it gets a little colder?

Someone gets teamkilled?

He just can't have anything nice, it seems.
>writing

that's what he gets for trying to kidnap best fox. It was at that moment he stepped into Riku's inner world, he knew he fucked up.

Do not fuck with Riku's zanpakto

>implying hes not about to get instagibbed by sui-feng because he was too lazy ass to final form
>its like you don't even know riku usually doesn't fuck around all that much.

Oh hey Queen, nice to see you running.

“Hyōryū Senbi!” Hitsugaya roars, slinging a jagged arc of overflowing ice from his blade that freezes several tightly-packed gillians in place. Then with a second gesture he shatters the ice and sends about a dozen glistening spears tearing through the gillians behind those.

“Zekku!”

“This is it!” Yoruichi shouts, and the two of you dash in through the path of carnage. She shatters anything that gets in her way, keeping the lane clear for Suì Fēng as she follows behind you. You close the gap between Hitsugaya and Muramasa in seconds, before the bodies of the defeated gillians even hit the ground. The hollowfied zanpakuto spirit swings at you and Yoruichi with wicked blades that protrude from his elbows, the sheer power of his reiatsu in this form being sufficient to force you to dodge.

But you were counting on that reaction.

Muramasa's arms are stuck extended from his sides as you and your partner wind reiatsu chains around his wrists, bracing yourselves against the dirt as Suì Fēng darts through the last several meters with a shunpo.

“Nigeki Keisa...” she begins as she reappears, jabbing the hollow in its arm as it breaks one of the chains to defend itself. It delivers a powerful kick to her ribs, but instead of crying out Suì Fēng smirks in satisfaction.

“Gotcha!” a tiny voice shouts in triumph as Suzumebachi herself closes in for the kill.

Muramasa's arm disappears in an inky burst of reiatsu, completely destroyed. However it seems a part of him recognized the danger and severed his own arm just before Suzumebachi could deliver the final blow.

“Damn!” Yoruichi shouts as the four of you are forced back to avoid a cascade of obscenely powerful bala. “He's grown faster in this state, too!”
>1/2

You don't exactly lose sight of him, but the suddenness of Muramasa's next move is enough to ensure that not even you and Yoruichi can catch him in time to prevent it. He uses not a shunpo, but a sonido, slashing through Hitsugaya's Bankai with a powerful sweep of his good arm that's followed immediately by a stream of bala.

“Hitsugaya!” Suì Fēng shouts in alarm.

“He's alive,” you quickly assure her as Muramasa's severed arm begins to grow back.

>That almost worked. Yoruichi and I can give you another opening.
>We should stick to close combat. The first one to see an opening takes it.
>I'm going to kill him myself. Can you two give me an opening?
>Other?

oh fuck he's resorting to fucking regen? Bad move boy
>Switch off from Tenkotsuki into Kobara no Tachi
>Burn that Arm stump.
>We should stick to close combat. The first one to see an opening takes it.

Second.

>>I'm going to kill him myself. Can you two give me an opening?
Nuke him with a Kuyō Shibari/Yūgure Kasō

>I'm going to kill him myself. Can you two give me an opening?

Plus this since Yoru and Sui Feng will need to stand clear from Kobara no Tachi's effect.

not in the middle of Kurakara town!

>>We should stick to close combat. The first one to see an opening takes it.

>Yoru and Sui Feng will need to stand clear from Kobara no Tachi's effect
Uhhh... not so much. The general area effect is from Tenkotsuki's bankai, and they'd have to get way the hell out of the area to get clear of its effect.

What Kobara no Tachi does is more like hydrostatic shock, but with cero.

>Bind his good arm and both legs and burn any wounds created (including the arm stump) with Kobara no tachi

>What Kobara no Tachi does is more like hydrostatic shock, but with cero.
Ah, I thought it was one of those "indiscriminately burns any reiatsu available" kind of thing.

that would be Bambi's ability, but replace the trigger from reiatsu to reishi particles and the burn with a bomb explosion.

>>>I'm going to kill him myself. Can you two give me an opening?

S H O W B O A T
H
O
W
B
O
A
T

>writing

oh right

>dice+3d10, DC 7

Rolled 6, 10, 8 = 24 (3d10)

Rolled 7, 7, 5 = 19 (3d10)

Rolled 4, 2, 3 = 9 (3d10)

MISS

Rolled 7, 4, 4 = 15 (3d10)

Rolled 10, 8, 2 = 20 (3d10)

The day Muramasa could never have nice things.

Bueno

“We should close in,” you decide, sheathing Tenkotsuki for the time being. “One of us sees an opportunity they take it.”

“Right,” Suì Fēng agrees, Suzumebachi tucking herself away in her sash for a surprise attack.

Yoruichi grins confidently. “Right behind you.”

The three of you take off in Muramasa's direction, and as you close in you find yourself stuck in place by what feels like a spider's web. It seems Muramasa's used one of his little tricks and set up a web of invisible kidō strands that are holding you in place. Luckily you've had training for such a situation. With a roar you spin in place, putting immense strain on the invisible strands and making it easier for a series of well-placed swings of Yoruichi's clawed fingers to slice through them.

As she's freeing you Muramasa slings a cloud of bala at Suì Fēng, warding off another assault with Suzumebachi but leaving him open to you and your partner. Yoruichi's fingertips dig into his chitinous arms with each swing, but she seems not to be able to land a decisive hit. He's just a little too quick, able to take the momentum of each blow and redirect it just enough to keep his arms attached and letting his regenerative abilities handle the gouges she's taking out of him.

Your own blows seem to amount to little more than a distraction, as his hierro is taking most of the impact out of them, but even giving Yoruichi one moment to land a clean strike is worth it. However it seems Yoruichi has other plans.

Muramasa tries to slash at her, but Yoruichi manages to sink her claws deeply into his sword arm to stop the movement and render the hollow all but helpless. A powerful kick to the solar plexus sends him reeling straight towards you.

“Raze,” you command, drawing Tenkotsuki's blade, “Kobara no Tachi!”
>1/2

>“Raze,” you command, drawing Tenkotsuki's blade, “Kobara no Tachi!”
Rosa's blade
Queen. pls

With a single sonido Muramasa moves behind you, leaving an illusory clone in hopes that you'll strike it. But you've long since wised up to this sort of trick, and instead you stop partway through the draw. Using a turn of your hips to reverse your momentum allows you to strike upwards with the blunt end of Tenkotsuki's sheath as you pull it off her blade in a smooth reverse-gripped thrust that rips off one of his hands. You thrust your double-released blade towards the hollow, pushing off a thin layer of reishi gathered at your feet... and as he dodges to your right the thrust bends instantly into a slash that rips into his abdomen.

Reiatsu blooms as Rosa's power uses it to fuel a cero that rips the slash open from within, propelling Muramasa back towards a waiting Yoruichi. As lightning leaves a crackling trail behind her foot, she drops a massive axe kick to the top of Muramasa's skull.

He hurtles towards the ground, body limp as a sack of potatoes, and leaves a massive crater where he falls.

Now that she's recovered Suì Fēng dashes into the column of dust, then re-emerges after kicking off her back foot. A burst of reiatsu from below tells you that she's hit her mark.

"Everything went better than expected," Suzumebachi quips.

Her wielder merely shakes her head. "Why would you say that? Why would you EVER say that?"

>dice+3d10, DC hidden

Rolled 3, 7, 9 = 19 (3d10)

Rolled 7, 7, 8 = 22 (3d10)

>"Everything went better than expected," Suzumebachi quips.
God fucking damnit Suzumebachi!
Nice!

Rolled 9, 3, 1 = 13 (3d10)

Rolled 1, 10, 1 = 12 (3d10)

PLEASE BE A CRIT!

>the DC was 8

Negatory. When both are released Kobara no Tachi converts Tenkotsuki's blade into a style of sword referred to by its distinctive point: "kissaki moro ha zukuri" or "Kogarasu zukuri", where the back third or so of the blade is also sharpened. In this case instead of looking like a "curved jian" as is historically more common the result is a little more "talon-like" due to the fact that the edge follows the spine all the way to the point.

The DC is hidden because it was 10 and we'd have bitched fer dayz G-slice.


Or cause it's a mystery box.

>writing

Shit, need to take a very brief pause here.

>Filled with both panic and hope

>Mainly panic

“Wait,” you caution them both. “It can't have been that easy.”

Sure enough, the smoke finally clears to reveal Muramasa – badly wounded but still very much alive.

“How!?” Suzumebachi wonders aloud as the hollow takes slowly to the sky.

Suì Fēng grimaces and raises one hand, but you wave her off again. “Just wait for it.”

As Muramasa raises his head to stare at you, anger almost palpable from here, a chill fills the air again. Pillars of reiatsu-laden ice rise from the ground, rotating in a ring around the stunned hollow before rushing inward to slam him into the center of a frigid prison.

“NOW!” you hear Hitsugaya shout from somewhere below you.

“Sprinkled on the bones of the beast!” you hear Suì Fēng beginning to chant. “Sharp tower, red crystal, steel ring. Move and become the wind, stop and become the calm. The sound of warring spears fills the empty castle!”

Next to you Yoruichi begins to chant as well, using the energy released by her Raijūsenkō to further empower the already obscenely powerful spell. The solid lightning arcs wildly around her, each arc meeting at the center of her outstretched palm.

You hear Tenkotsuki chanting for you as you extend her blade towards the heart of the icy prison, and lances of dense reiatsu build all around you.

“Hadō 63: Raikōhō!” Suì Fēng shouts, loosing a powerful bolt of lightning.

“Hadō 88: Hiryū Gekizoku Shinten Raihō!” Yoruichi cries, bracing her hand by grabbing her wrist to withstand the immense force of her own attack. The reishi claws at her feet tear into the air to maintain a foothold through the firing.

Your voice joins theirs as you release your own attack. “ Hadō 91: Senjū Kōten Taihō!”

Spears of reiatsu and columns of lightning converge in a blast so powerful that it sends several of your lower-ranked fighters tumbling through the air, and outright kills several gillians who strayed too close and were crushed under the pressure.
>1/2

>queen was planning for a round 2 but we fucked the plans up

Well...

And yet, he still stands. Regenerating far more slowly than before, and struggling to do even that, but still far more alive than anyone else in his position would have any right to be.

“Really!?” Yoruichi groans in frustration.

Tenkotsuki sighs. “It seems his expression of shinreiryoku is linked to his desperation to stay alive long enough to rescue his master, rather than taking a more aggressive form. It is pure survival instinct.”

“So he's immortal,” Rosa sums up. “Great. Love it. Can we just kill it now, please?”

>Yoruichi, let's try and seal him. Same technique that sealed Muramasa.
>I'm using Ura Hadō. I may become a liability afterwards while I recover, but it needs to be done.
>Other?

>>I'm using Ura Hadō. I may become a liability afterwards while I recover, but it needs to be done.

Speaking of his master, what's going on with him right now?

ehh, he doesn't have infinite amounts of reiryoku, divine or not. I say we keep tearing into him for a while, since we aren't that tired yet.

>>Yoruichi, let's try and seal him. Same technique that sealed Muramasa.

We still gotta deal with Koga, don't wanna blow our whole load now

Trading blows fairly equally with Byakuya... for now.

>>I'm using Ura Hadō. I may become a liability afterwards while I recover, but it needs to be done.

>I'm using Ura Hadō. I may become a liability afterwards while I recover, but it needs to be done.

>I'm using Ura Hadō. I may become a liability afterwards while I recover, but it needs to be done.

So his reinforcements are scrub-tier gillian, while ours are a bunch of captains and their manifested zanpakuto? Yeah, let's hold down the fort for now, the situation is overwhelmingly to our advantage.