Crack, crack...
Cracks appeared on the iceberg that had frozen Toshiro. It seemed he was about to break free.
"We'll retreat for now!"
Muramasa shouted to the materialized Zanpakuto.
With Toshiro here, even if they had numerical superiority, Muramasa had no confidence in defeating the Shinigami. So he decisively chose to retreat.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Muramasa and the materialized Zanpakuto instantly vanished from the scene, fleeing into the distance.
Seeing this, Ukitake couldn't help but ask Kyoraku beside him: "What do we do now, Shunsui? Should we chase them?"
Whoosh!
Just as Ukitake was asking Shunsui for his opinion, Byakuya silently took off after Muramasa and the materialized Zanpakuto without a word.
"Yare yare, Byakuya is really impatient. There's no helping it. It's too dangerous for him to go alone. We'll follow too. But since we can't release our Zanpakuto right now, we don't need to fight the enemy to the death. We just need to hold them off until Toshiro catches up."
Kyoraku glanced at Toshiro, who was about to break free from the ice.
"Lieutenant Matsumoto, Lieutenant Hinamori, 3rd Seat Sojiro, you three wait here for Toshiro to come out. The rest of you, come with me to chase Muramasa and the Zanpakuto!"
Kyoraku instructed the three from the 10th Division, then immediately led everyone in the direction Muramasa and his group had fled.
"Daring to chase after us alone... as expected of the head of the Kuchiki Clan and Captain of the 6th Division."
Muramasa stood on the roof of a building, speaking to Byakuya on the rooftop of a tall building not far away.
Byakuya just looked at Muramasa silently, as if pondering something, with a thoughtful expression.
"Muramasa-sama, leave Kuchiki Byakuya to me."
A samurai wearing armor and an oni mask walked up to Muramasa.
Then the oni-masked samurai pointed his sword at Byakuya and said, "My name is Senbonzakura."
"As I suspected..."
Byakuya also drew his sword with a clang.
Whoosh!
Whoosh!
As if by tacit agreement, Byakuya and Senbonzakura both flickered and vanished simultaneously, meeting in mid-air and each slashing at the other.
Clang!
Swords clashed. Both retreated through the air.
"Kuchiki Byakuya, trying to fight my thousand blades with just a single sword. How foolish. You of all people should know that best."
Senbonzakura mocked.
"Hmph!"
Byakuya snorted coldly, expressionless.
After stabilizing himself, Byakuya and Senbonzakura charged at each other again without hesitation.
Clang, clang, clang!!
Their swords clashed continuously, sparks flying from time to time.
Suddenly, Muramasa frowned and looked into the distance.
"Senbonzakura, finish Kuchiki Byakuya quickly. The Gotei 13's members are almost here."
Muramasa urged.
Hearing Muramasa's urging, Senbonzakura, who was locked in a blade lock with Byakuya, suddenly murmured: "Scatter!"
A pink light shone. The sword in Senbonzakura's hand suddenly transformed into countless cherry blossom petal-like tiny blades.
Seeing this, Byakuya's pupils contracted. He quickly retreated.
"Hmph, you were too careless, Kuchiki Byakuya!"
Senbonzakura snorted coldly, manipulating the countless cherry blossom blades to condense into a long snake and pursue Byakuya.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Byakuya's figure flickered continuously, using Shunpo to evade Senbonzakura's attacks.
"It's useless, Kuchiki Byakuya."
Senbonzakura said disdainfully. He then raised his other hand, manipulating with both hands. The cherry blossom blades' speed instantly increased, finally catching up to Byakuya and completely engulfing him.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Kyoraku and the others appeared on the scene.
"Damn it, are we too late?"
Ukitake looked regretfully at the chaotic battlefield.
"Yare yare, if something happened to Byakuya, that would be bad."
Kyoraku also frowned.
Shortly after Byakuya left, Kyoraku and the others had pursued him. But along the way, they encountered other Zanpakuto rampaging through the Gotei 13's divisions and took the opportunity to repel them.
They didn't expect that this short delay would lead to something happening to Byakuya.
Just now, they had witnessed from afar the scene of Byakuya being engulfed by Senbonzakura's cherry blossom blades.
But they were too far away to stop it.
"It's too early to give up now. We should have people conduct a thorough search here. Hopefully, we can find Captain Kuchiki's traces."
Unohana suggested.
"Well, that's true."
Kyoraku agreed.
…
Sokyoku Hill.
Boom!
The iceberg shattered, and Toshiro finally broke free.
"Achoo!"
"D-Damn it... Hyo... Hyorinmaru... how dare she do this to me..."
Toshiro trembled from the cold, speaking haltingly.
Ever since awakening the Strongest Ice-type Zanpakuto, Toshiro's physique had undergone some changes. While not completely immune to ice-type attacks, he had strong resistance to them. He hadn't felt cold in who knows how many years.
Even when Sode no Shirayuki sneak-attacked him and froze him earlier, he was just frozen in the ice, feeling no cold at all.
But this time, the power contained in Hyorinmaru's attack was too great. Toshiro almost froze to death and had to struggle with all his might to break free from the ice.
"Captain!"
Momo, Rangiku, and Sojiro, who had stayed behind, quickly gathered around.
"Shiro-chan, are you alright?"
Momo asked with concern.
"Achoo! I'm... I'm fine."
Toshiro waved his hand.
Then, scanning his surroundings, he asked: "What happened? Where are the others?"
Rangiku replied: "Captain, after your Hyorinmaru left with Rukia's Sode no Shirayuki, Muramasa, seeing you were about to break free, didn't dare stay long and fled with the materialized Zanpakuto. Captain Kyoraku and the others went after Muramasa."
"Is that so? But since no one can use their Zanpakuto's power right now, they might not be a match for Muramasa and his group. We need to go support Shunsui and the others quickly."
Toshiro said.
Then Toshiro, with Momo, Rangiku, and Sojiro, headed in the direction Kyoraku and the others had gone.
"Captain Kyoraku, we've searched the entire area but found no trace of Captain."
Renji reported worriedly to Kyoraku.
"Is that so? This is really troubling."
Kyoraku said, troubled.
Byakuya was not only the Captain of the 6th Division but also the head of the Kuchiki Clan, one of the Four Great Noble Families.
If something really happened to him, it wouldn't just mean the loss of a Captain.
"Shunsui, Renji, don't worry. That guy Byakuya isn't so easy to kill."
A voice suddenly came.
"Yare yare, you're finally here, Toshiro."
Kyoraku breathed a sigh of relief.
"Sorry I'm late."
Toshiro's figure flickered and appeared before everyone.