//------------------------------//
// Rebellion: A Shocking Surprise 
// Story: Bleach: Heart of a Hero 
// by Blackdrag-rose 
//------------------------------//

"It seems that Muramasa's presence is keeping the other Zanpakuto spirits from leaving the area," Ichigo commented, as he had noticed that some of the spirits appeared that they wanted to leave the area after witnessing Zangetsu's power for themselves, but at the same time Muramasa's presence seemed to be stopping them from leaving, despite the fact that one of the spirits came to them and then flashed away later.

"Yeah, which means that we'll need to take him out." Zangetsu said, as he understood that this rebellion would fall apart without the figurehead, which was why he had his blade at the ready and he was itching to fire a Cero at the foe that was currently standing in their way, before he glanced backwards for a moment, "Lord Sombra, do you want us to take this guy out now, or should we let them retreat and lick their wounds for a future battle?"

"You should both pull back for now." Sombra stated, though at the same time he stepped forward and walked up to the point where he was standing in front of the pair, who were looking at him as he paused, despite the fact that his eyes were on Muramasa and no one else, "I'll step forward and test his strength for myself, because he has to have some decent power if he's able to cause some many spirits to manifest themselves in this world."

"Sombra, are you sure you want to do that?" Ichigo asked, causing Zangetsu to glance at him for a moment, because he was surprised that Ichigo was even thinking about inquiring what Sombra was thinking about doing right now, but he kept quiet as he waited to see what happened next, "I mean, if he was able to draw out the Zanpakuto spirits of the Captains and Lieutenants, including drawing out the Old Man from my inner world, there's the possibility that Muramasa might even be able to draw out both Shokyo and Rey from your inner world."

"Indeed, he might be able to do that," Sombra said, as he had been thinking about that the entire time he had been watching the battle that had been happening, but at the same time he turned his head back towards the spirit that was standing off in the distance, "but, at the same time, there's a chance that he might not be able to do anything to them at all... you'll just have to wait and see what happens when we start fighting."

Ichigo seemed to want to say something, as it seemed wrong for the Dios Hueco, the King of Hueco Mundo, to step forward and face a foe that could take out the power of both of his Zanpakuto and take over their minds, but before he could do anything Zangetsu grabbed his shoulder and shook his head, to which Ichigo sighed and the two of them flashed out over to where the other Shinigami and Arrancar were standing.

"What's Sombra thinking?" Renji asked, though at the same time the other Captains seemed to have a good idea what was going on, even though he was mostly confirming what was going on, because with all their Zanpakuto spirits gathered in a single place he knew this was a bad idea.

"He's going to engage Muramasa, obviously." Grimmjow commented, though as he said that he sat on the edge of the cliff that they were standing on and stared out at the slightly ruined area that was in front of them, where the rest of the Arrancar focused on their Lord as well, before a wide grin appeared on his face, "This will be interesting."

Zangetsu nodded his head in agreement, because they had all seen Sombra best Aizen in no time despite the fact that he had tested the power that the Hogyoku had given Aizen, before noticing that the spirit with the pink cat tail had left her comrades and was standing near a boulder, even though he was sure that she was staring at him, before he focused on the incoming fight that would happen soon, as he'd deal with her later.

"So, who are you again?" Muramasa asked, because he had been solely focused on Ichigo Kurosaki and his enslaved Zanpakuto spirit, but even as he thought about that he noticed that this person was different from everyone else that he had encountered so far, which was why he was asking about who they were.

"As I told you earlier, my name is Sombra, and I am both the Dios Hueco, or Hollow God if you prefer, and the King of Hueco Mundo," Sombra replied, but at the same time he wasn't surprised to see that Muramasa was caught up in what happened earlier and didn't seem to care about him, but now that the previous battle was over the spirit would be forced to focus on him now, "I got called in to assist the Shinigami with the little 'rebellion' that you've been causing, which means that you should have acted fast and prevented anyone from leaving Soul Society, or sending messages to the World of the Living or Hueco Mundo, because now that I'm here you won't be able to succeed in your mission."

"Is that so?" Muramasa inquired, though as he said that he glanced at the blades that were attached to his foe's belts, as both of them seemed to be Zanpakuto, which made him think about something that he had been thinking since he first encountered Sombra, "Those blades on your belt, are they Zanpakuto?"

"Indeed they are, but please, don't worry about them." Sombra said, to which he slipped his hands into the pockets that his new jacket had, because right now he knew that he didn't need to do anything to Muramasa yet, not when the battle had yet to start, and he noticed that his foe raised an eyebrow in surprise, "You'll find that the next step you take will spell defeat for you and your rebellion."

"Interesting." Muramasa stated, to which he raised his right hand and loosed a gust of wind at Sombra, who found that the Zanpakuto spirit used his power to 'freeze' him to the ground that he was standing on, where a smile appeared on his face as he moved forward, indicating that he was going to do what he did to Ichigo on him, "Listen to my voice. Obey your instincts and break your souls free. Abandon your fears. Look forward. Move forward and never stop. You'll both age if you pull back. You'll both die if you hesitate. Come! Your names are..."

Before he had a chance to complete his statement a crystal pillar, which grew to the height of Sombra's head, rose out of the ground on his left, while at the same time a mass of shadows formed on the ground to his right, though everyone, as in all Shinigami, Arrancar, and Zanpakuto spirits, watched as Shokyo stepped out of the large crystal pillar and stood to Sombra's left, before Rey, in his pony state, jumped out of the swirling shadows and landed on his right. The instant that was done, and Muramasa barely had time to process what had happened, Sombra sighed and pulled his arms close to him, snapping the enchantment that had been placed on him like it was nothing, where he noticed that Muramasa was surprised by what he had done, before growing serious again.

"It seems that I might have... miscalculated... how much power I needed to use to restrain you," Muramasa stated, to which he pulled both his hands out and beckoned to the two newcomers, one that was what he assumed was a pony and the second looking like a cross between a pony and a lady, before a smile graced his face, "but that doesn't matter at all now, not when I have freed your Zanpakuto from your enslavement and have released them so they can do as their instincts tell them to do. Tell me, our new brother and sister, what are your names?"

"I am Shokyo, meaning Crystal Heart." Shokyo stated, though at the same time she stared at the opponent that stood in front of them, knowing that he didn't seem aware of what was happening at the moment, which was why she and Rey were waiting for the command to attack, "I represent the Shinigami powers that Sombra gained before he was able to regain his former powers, and I am the Zanpakuto spirit that is one of his partners."

"And I am Rey de la Oscuridad, meaning the King of Darkness." Rey added, though as he said that he grinned and flashed his smile at Muramasa, who took a small step back for a moment, which showed that even now, in his base state, he could still scare those that were his enemies, "Unlike Shokyo, who represents Sombra's Shinigami powers, I am the version of him that represents his Arrancar powers, and I am also who he used to be, before he became the Arrancar that he currently is."

"What do you mean by 'partner'?" Muramasa asked, but even as that question came out of his mouth he noticed that Sombra was stretching his arms and his legs, like he was getting ready for something, meaning that he needed to be on his guard for what came next, "Don't you mean that he's your former master?"

"Nope. When we say 'partner', we mean it." Rey said, to which he took a few steps away from Sombra, as it felt good to be out in the real world for a change, especially since the last time he got a chance to do this he had smashed a very foolish Grimmjow into the ground, before he glanced back at Muramasa, "Look, I represent who we used to be, before this guy became the dominate personality, but now that he's proven that he's much stronger than me, without Shokyo getting involved, there's no reason for me to turn my back on him and not offer him our former powers."

"Muramasa, you seem to be interested in saving Zanpakuto that are 'enslaved' by the Shinigami," Shokyo said, though she also took a few steps away from Sombra, in the opposite direction that Rey went, and kept her eyes on their target at the same time, because both of them knew what was coming next, "What if I told you that we're not like that? What if I told you that I willingly offered Sombra my name, the Release Call to use my Shikai form, the knowledge of my abilities while I'm in Shikai form, and the powerful Bankai that is the ultimate technique of every Shinigami? There is no need for the likes of subjugation between us, rather there is a level of understanding and communication that is unprecedented among Zanpakuto and their partners, so there really is no reason for either of us to listen to your orders, since we're not leaving Sombra's side and joining you."

"Then why did you bother heeding my summons at all?" Muramasa asked, though at the same time he was utterly shocked, because he had never heard of a Shinigami being able to forge such a strong connection with their Zanpakuto, one that not even he could overpower and use against the Shinigami, and he had never heard of an Arrancar being able to do something like that either, meaning the existence of two Zanpakuto spirits that would reject his philosophy so willingly was concerning, especially with the other spirits watching them.

"Because we wanted to see how you'd react to something like this happening." Rey said, though as he said that the shadows gathered near his position, to which his horn glowed and he pulled his katana out of the swirling mass, which he turned towards Muramasa with his grin still on his face, "Oh, and just so we're clear, this isn't going to be a battle between you and Sombra, it's going to be a battle between you and the three of us, so prepare yourself, because you're going to be in a world of pain soon enough."

Muramasa barely had time to summon his blade as Rey rushed through the air and swung his blade diagonally at him, causing him to defend himself against a very powerful base attack that he wasn't expecting, before he was forced to jump backwards and assess the situation that he was in. Unfortunately he failed to account for the remaining two enemies, as a shadow fell over him and he noticed Shokyo had flashed into the air above him, where she brought her blade, a beautiful katana that didn't have the ebony tint that Rey's blade had, down on him, applying enough force to send him flying back into the ground. As he impacted the ground Muramasa discovered two things, the first being that Sombra was simply watching his Zanpakuto spirits fight him, while the second was that Rey had to be close to his blade for it to be any good, not that it actually helped him at the moment. His best course of action would be to find a way to take out Rey, as he seemed to be the more aggressive of his current opponents and he knew that he could use that to his advantage, but at the same time he needed to keep his eyes open for the moment that Sombra decided to jump into the battle, because a being like him would change things in a matter of seconds.

He coughed as he carefully removed himself from the crater that had formed around him, a small one by the looks of it, but that did nothing to lift his mood, because he could tell that the two opponents he was facing were still in their base states and they were already gaining the upper hand, so for now he could use that to his advantage and lower their guard until it was time to strike at them.

"Don't lower your guard for a moment, or even think that I won't enter the batter until a later time." a voice said, to which Muramasa froze where he was standing, because in the span of a second Sombra had vanished from where he had been standing and was now standing behind him, with his back facing him, and his voice was serious, "I normally try to stay out of the battles of others, so they can resolve them on their own, and only join in when that battle involves me, but you tried to separate my partners from me, so that means you should be expecting me to jump in whenever I want."

Muramasa, acting on the belief that his main target would be behind him if he swung his blade at him, decided to go with his plan and swung at the area behind him, though instead of hitting Sombra, or even finding one of his blades there to stop his, he found Rey had rushed towards him as Sombra flashed away, parrying his attack instantly. In the following instant something collided with his back and knocked him into the ground nearby, just as Rey flashed away from where he was laying, and that was before Muramasa discovered that the new attacker was Sombra, who rapidly moved into the steps of the Raioken technique, where each punch cracked the ground around him and wounded Muramasa's body with the sheer power his base form possessed. When the last punch was thrown, and Muramasa coughed instead of flashing out of the area, Sombra picked him up by his shoulders and hurled him into the sky, giving him the briefest of chances to regain his balance as Shokyo rushed over to where he was standing and swung at him, though as he parried the attack he found that this Zanpakuto spirit was just as strong as Rey was, meaning that his chances of winning this match went down the instant he found out how powerful Sombra was in his base form.

Shokyo knocked him towards the ground and remained in the air above him, causing Muramasa to wonder if one of the others was coming to attack him this time, just like they had a habit of doing when he was distracted, but instead of that happening Shokyo shifted her blade into her left hand and what appeared to be a crystal spear formed in the air to her right, allowing her to easily grab the weapon and use it as she desired. Shokyo shifted her gaze towards Muramasa and threw the spear down at him, which would have been easy to dodge on it's own, but when it flashed and became a cluster of brilliant blue crystalline spears, between ten to thirty of them, he knew that dodging them was going to be nearly impossible, not without getting hit in some manner. Sure enough several of the spears cut into his body, as there were a few cuts on the sides of his body, on his arms and legs, and his right cheek had been cut as well, but despite the fact that he knew that Shokyo wasn't trying to kill him quickly, so he could be shared between the three of them, Muramasa knew that, if the female spirit was serious, she could kill him instantly if she so desired. The same could be said for Rey, as the pony spirit was quick to rush at him when an opening presented itself, his normal attacks were powerful on their own, and dodging bullets made from the shadows around them seemed impossible to dodge as well, though they hurt as much as the spears did and knocked him into the ground with ease.

When Muramasa stood up a few moments later, however, he noticed that both Shokyo and Rey stood near him, both looking like they were going to attack him next, and he held his blade at the ready, since he had no idea which of them was going to be the first one to strike, but before he could do anything the sky darkened, as if some sort of evil force was taking control over the area around them.

"Seeping crest of turbidity." Sombra recited, though unlike Aizen, who had pointed his index finger at the sky to do what he had wanted to do, he could channel the power of his Kido direction into the sky while he focused on the spirit that was between them, "Arrogant vessel of lunacy! Boil forth and deny! Grow numb and flicker! Disrupt sleep! Crawling queen of iron! Eternally self-destructing doll of mud! Unite! Repulse! Fill with soil and know your own powerlessness! Hado Number 90: Kurohitsugi!"

Muramasa watched as a large box of dark energy formed around him, stopping him in the area that he was standing in as the walls formed around him and stretched towards the sky that was above him, and before long he found himself trapped inside the box and cut off from the rest of the world. A few moments later a series of cuts were slashed into his body, as if something or someone was attacking him without him being able to see them, and as his blood flew into the air above him he watched as the box suddenly fell apart, allowing him to hit the ground and cough up some blood as he realized that they might actually be on two separate levels.

"You know, he's got enough power to cause so many Zanpakuto spirits to materialize," Rey commented, to which both he and Shokyo flashed down to the area near Sombra, but he was more interested in the fact that Muramasa couldn't stand against their combined power, much less the power that Sombra commanded when he used one of the Kido spells that he had access to, "but even with all that power he's no match for the base power of the Dios Hueco, much less the combined power of all three of our base states. Seriously, did we really consider this guy much of a threat?"

"His current power, while keeping the other Zanpakuto spirits materialized, is that of a high level Gillian, or a low level Adjuchas," Shokyo added, though while she shared Rey's views on this battle, in the sense that all three of them didn't need to be doing this, she knew that Sombra wanted to show Muramasa how outclassed he was, especially since the only way for him to stand a chance against them was to stop the rebellion and take all his power back into his body.

"He'll run away before long." Sombra stated, though at the same time he stepped forward and drew his Zanpakuto from their scabbards, causing the pair of spirits to focus on Muramasa and do the same thing, "There's an end goal he's working towards, so either he'll tell us what his plans are or we'll force him, and his allies, to flee from the area and come back at another time. So until either of those events happen we'll keep attacking him, and there's a Hado spell I want to try out while we're doing this, so we'll see if I get the chance to do that before he makes a decision on what to do... and before I do that, and use the spell I'm thinking about, it's time I use Kaiten Kenbu."

Muramasa, hearing that there was both a spell and a technique he hadn't seen before, got up and started to take a step backwards, so he could avoid Sombra's attack, but that was followed by Sombra flashing through the air and stopped some distance behind his target, where Muramasa watched as six diagonal gashes, three going down to his right side and the other three doing the same for the left side, appeared on his chest and blood burst out of them. As he pushed himself away from Sombra, however, both Shokyo and Rey attacked him at the same time, their blades meeting on top of his blade as they pushed him towards the ground once more, showing him that they were keeping him within range of the spell that Sombra was planning on using against him. Rey was the one that knocked him away from where the due was floating, which was followed by Muramasa finding that Shokyo was the one that was attacking him now, either with her crystals or with her blade, confirming that her base state was powerful and that he might not be able to stand against the power that she, Rey, or even Sombra were capable of wielding on their own. What he wasn't expecting was for the shadows to reach up and grab onto his legs for a moment, where he was pulled down back to the ground below them and found Rey waiting for him, where he blocked the attack to the best of his ability, before Rey grinned and used the shadows to cut into his arms and legs... and then he used the shadows to form a black orb that was pressed against his chest, only he found himself being pushed into the ground.

He had never seen a technique like this, where the shadows manipulated the gravity of the area around him in some manner, and he had no idea how to combat a power like this, but even as he thought about that he tried to fight against the gravity that was opposing him at the moment... though as that happened he noticed that both Shokyo and Rey had moved out of the way, and that Sombra was standing near his current position with his reiatsu gathering in the area that they were standing in.

"Prepare yourself, Muramasa, because this is the strongest Hado spell I have access to," Sombra said, though at the same time the ground cracked a little as he stood there, surprising Muramasa, as this sounded like the spell that he had briefly mentioned earlier, when he was talking to his Zanpakuto spirits, "Hado Number 99: Goryutenmetsu."

Muramasa watched as the ground around him ruptured, sinking and collapsing in chunks while some parts of the ground rose up in five well placed pillars, which transformed themselves into five massive serpent dragons that were staring down at him... and before he had a chance to react, even though there wasn't much he could do without breaking the orb that was keeping him trapped, the dragons raced towards him and violently exploded as they collided on the area that he was trapped in.

"Very impressive." Zangetsu commented, as when the smoke cleared he flashed down to where Sombra, Shokyo, and Rey were standing, where he found a massive crater that was even larger than the one that Aizen had formed when he transformed into his final state, and right now it didn't seem like Muramasa had survived, "I wasn't expecting that attack to do this much damage to the environment."

"Truthfully, neither was I." Sombra said, as he was staring at the massive crater that rested in front of him, because this was one of the few Kido spells that he hadn't practiced in the underground training area that Urahara had, which now made sense by the destruction that was in front of him, but now he understood the reason why, "I also only poured a tenth of my power into that attack, so just imagine how strong it would be if I bothered to charge it for more than just a couple of moments like I did."

"You would have blown the entire area away if it was at full power and had it's incantation." Ichigo added, though he was shocked by what he was seeing, something that he knew the Shinigami and the Zanpakuto spirits were feeling as well, because the Shinigami were shocked that he had pulled off the strongest Hado in existence without any strain on his body and the Zanpakuto were staring with their mouths open.

"Well, Goryutenmetsu doesn't have an incantation," Sombra stated, as he remembered back to when he had read the books Tessei had lent him and recalled the question he had asked, before he refocused on what was going on at the moment as he felt Muramasa's reiatsu flicker in the crater, "it's already so powerful without the incantation, so if there was one the spell would be even stronger... and this entire area would have collapsed on itself. Best that we have it without the incantation, that way nothing terrible happens if someone evil decided to use it..."

Ichigo raised an eyebrow as Sombra stopped talking all of a sudden, though at the same time he noticed that some of the Zanpakuto spirits had moved to the edge of the crater and reached into it, where two of them took the offered help and hauled Muramasa out of the crater, though his body was littered in cuts and blood, and part of his robe had been destroyed after taking such a powerful direct attack. He raised his blade, as a well placed Getsuga Tensho would shatter the ground beneath the Zanpakuto spirits and drop them into the massive hole that was in front of them, but he was surprised when Sombra, Shokyo, and Rey held their arms, and hoof, out to stop him, to which he sighed as he lowered his blade and watched what happened next. The Zanpakuto spirits that weren't holding onto the wounded and defeated Muramasa glanced at them for a few seconds, to be sure that they weren't going to do anything to them, though when Sombra shook his head one of the spirits, who was carrying a small shrine on his back, nodded to the others and they flashed out of the area they were standing in. The only Zanpakuto spirit that remained behind for a few seconds, the one that had told Zangetsu that he was hot, stared at them for a few seconds before flashing out of the area as well, leaving the Shinigami and the Arrancar to their own devices for who knew how long.

"Well then, it seems like we have an opportunity to tell the others the news about what Muramasa's doing." Rey said, though at the same time a new crystal pillar and a new mass of swirling darkness appeared near Sombra, the signs that they were returning to their blades, "And then, with everyone properly informed of what's going on, we can put an end to this rebellion and do something else."

Sombra nodded as his Zanpakuto spirits returned to their blades and the means of them entering this world vanished entirely, though as he turned around both Zangetsu and Ichigo returned to their base forms as they followed him back to the rest of the Shinigami, who needed to be informed of what was going on and what they had discovered... and maybe even tell them how to regain their rebellious Zanpakuto spirits in the process, especially since Ichigo managed to regain the Old Man earlier, despite it being Zangetsu that did the deed.





Despite how fast the rest of the Zanpakuto spirits were going, to carry their wounded leader to their hideout so he could rest and recover from the massive beating that he had suffered, there was one spirit among them that held back and took her time as she used the tree branches to follow after them. Haineko sighed as she noticed that the rest of the spirits were getting further and further away from where she was, but at the same time she found that her mind was focused on one thing and nothing else, and that was the being that had been fighting before that creature with two spirits let Muramasa 'free' his 'partners', before they smashed him into the ground. If what she had heard was correct, and she thought it was correct, the being was called Zangetsu, his power was incredible and made her think twice about everything that she had come into contact with recently, and, before the battle that Muramasa had taken part in had started, she had actually gotten close to him and his former partner, Ichigo Kurosaki, where she called him hot. As the others continued towards their cave hideout she landed on the path that would take her to it and walked towards her destination, as she needed to think about what she had done and what she was going to do now, especially since many of them had to wonder if their rebellion was even going to work, especially with such a foe standing in their way.

She had gone up to one of their enemies, one of the beings that served the King of Hueco Mundo, and had said that he was hot, like she was interested in him, before getting embarrassed and moved out of the area, but despite all that she had seen what had to be some sort of interest in Zangetsu's eyes. She wasn't sure if the interest had been like she was feeling, or if it was because he found it amusing that an enemy was saying that to him, but that didn't change what she had done and that her allies were going to add that to the list of things that they held against her. It reminded her of what happened when she tried to communicate with her former master, Matsumoto Rangiku, a name that would normally sour her mood, but right now that didn't happen, making her wonder what was wrong with her as she approached the entrance of their hideout, to which she sighed and walked down the steps that she eventually came to. Her body followed the movements that she was used to doing as she followed the path that was in front of her, allowing her to focus on the fact that her mind was thinking about something else, before she found herself in the chamber that she and the other spirits gathered in when they were waiting for Muramasa to arrive and deliver their orders to them. As she walked into the chamber she turned to the right and moved to the side, where she leaned against a boulder and wondered why she had approached one of their enemies in such a manner, while at the same time the others made sure that Muramasa was somewhere resting, to recover from his battle.

"I can't believe that those three messed up Muramasa this badly." one of the spirits, the large ogre-like spirit called Hozukimaru, stated, though even as he said that the rest of the spirits spread out and tried to recover from what they had seen earlier, though they focused on the one that was speaking at the moment.

"That guy wasn't a Shinigami... he was something else entirely..." another spirit, the being with the black body and red outline, Kazeshini, added, though his tone indicated that he was unsure of whether or not he'd want to battle someone like Sombra, if he was able to do this much damage to their leader, who had to be the strongest spirit among their group, and he noticed that some of the others were nodding their agreement to his words.

"He said that he was an Arrancar, the Dios Hueco, and the King of Hueco Mundo." the man with ice on his hands and feet, Hyorinmaru, added, indicating that he had heard what their new foe had said and that he seemed to be thinking about something that he had seen during the fight, "I don't believe that he'll be an easy enemy to defeat, in our current state anyway, but if we had Ryujin Jakka we might stand a chance against him."

"We don't need Ryujin Jakka to beat him," one of the two beings that made up Zabimaru, the lady that was called Saru, stated, to which she turned towards the path that she and the others had walked down with the little boy, Hebi, following after her, before they both glanced back at the group, "He won't be expecting another attack so soon, so we'll surprise them and take out some of them before they realize what's going on."

Haineko watched as Saru and Hebi headed up the stairs and left the cave system, to hunt a being that they didn't have a chance to defeat, but she kept quiet as she let them face their chosen fate, before she looked down at her feet and wondered if she should leave as well, to find someone else.

"Something wrong, Haineko?" a voice asked, to which Haineko turned her head and found Tobiume, the small girl that was dressed in the kimono and wielded bells, standing nearby, yet she found that any annoyances she might have felt for the other female spirit didn't even come to the surface at the moment, "You seem distracted by something... or is it that you're distracted by someone?"

"I'm... thinking about Zangetsu..." Haineko replied, which was followed by her rubbing her arm for a moment as she looked at the pool of water that was on the other side of the chamber that they were all gathered in, though at the same time she noticed that some of the other spirits were looking at them, all because Tobiume had bothered to ask her if something was bothering her.

"Oh, you're thinking about how we'll kill him." Kazeshini said, though he grinned as his body shuddered for a moment, something that was common since when he attacked his foes he sometimes shifted into a twister form to strike and his body occasionally shuddered because of his powers, before he walked over to the nearby table and sat down in a chair that he immediately leaned back in, "I'm sure that Muramasa will have a plan to deal with him, once he recovers from his fight and wakes back up, though I would like to meet him in battle, to see whose the better killer between us."

"Idiot, she's not thinking about how we'll kill Zangetsu," Tobiume stated, causing the other spirit to glare at her while some of the others raised their heads, as they were all interested in what she assumed Haineko was thinking about, even if she didn't want Tobiume to say anything that was on her mind, before she turned her head to the side a little so she could look at Haineko, "she wants to get in his pants... don't you, Haineko?"

"Now that's funny." Hozukimaru said, to which he and some of the others chuckled for a moment, thinking that what Tobiume had said was funny, while at the same time Tobiume smiled a little, as it seemed that one or two of the spirits seemed to know Haineko as well as she did, before the large spirit stopped laughing, "Get real, Tobiume. There's no way that Haineko, as stupid as she might be at times, would be thinking about do anything with one of our enemies, especially one that happens to be standing between us and our freedom from our masters."

"Y... Yeah. Get real, Tobiume." Haineko stated, trying to act like her usual self in front of the other spirits, despite the fact that the younger female spirit had put such an image in her head in the first place and the fact that the spirits were reminded of what her former master thought of her, before she headed towards the stairs on her own, "I'm... going for a walk. I'll be back before Muramasa recovers from his ordeal."

Truthfully all she wanted to do was to get away from Tobiume, so she could be alone with her thoughts, but even as she breached the surface her mood was ruined as she heard the spirit in question declaring that she'd follow her, just to be sure that she didn't try anything funny... to which Haineko sighed as she walked, as she was sure that Tobiume was going to bother her and prevent her from figuring out what was going on with her, and that meant that this was going to be a very long and annoying walk.





After Sombra and the assembled Shinigami returned to the Fourth Division's barracks, with the Arrancar keeping watch on the area around them in case some of the Zanpakuto spirits doubled back to fight them while they were talking, Sombra explained that Muramasa was taking the frustrations that each of the Zanpakuto were feeling and used those as his anchors to materialize them in this world. The Old Man, manifesting at Ichigo's request for a few moments, confirmed that this was some sort of hypnotism that Muramasa was performing on the spirits, though he also revealed that once one of the spirits were defeated they would return to normal, even if he recommended that the Shinigami partner of the spirit in question struck the final blow. He also guessed that simply defeating them might break the hypnosis on it's own, but to truly reclaim their partners the Shinigami were going to have to find them and deal with them in whatever manner they could, because they wouldn't return to their former partners without overcoming what had come between them, as in what frustrations had allowed their foe to cause these separations.

While the others continued chatting about what Sombra had discovered, and what they might be able to do in the future, Renji quietly excused himself and headed out towards the area of the Seireitei that he had fought Ichigo in, back when his friends had come to rescue Rukia, though this time he was looking for clues as to where Captain Byakuya might have gone after his own Zanpakuto attacked him.

"He's just as clueless as ever." a female voice said, stopping Renji in his tracks after he reached the area that he was heading to, though he knew that it couldn't be one of the Arrancar, as they figured out what he was doing and he denied their offer of assistance, since this was something he had to do on his own.

Renji turned towards the long stretch of stairs that were nearby and found a woman sitting on one of the steps, with a smile on her face as they stared at each other, though something about her seemed familiar to Renji, despite the fact that he couldn't figure out why he felt that way.

"You're... Aren't you...?" Renji started to say, but despite what he was feeling he still had next to no idea which of the remaining Zanpakuto spirits that he was staring at, even though a few of them were easy to spot when they abandoned them and joined Muramasa's side, before he turned his head to the side as he stared at her, "To be completely honest, I'm drawing a blank here. Who are you supposed to be?"

"You seriously don't know?" the woman replied, her expression shifting into one of anger for a few seconds, just to show that she wasn't happy with what she had heard, before it returned to normal and she stood up, "Goodness gracious. That's very rude, Renji. And here we've been holding hands for years now."

"For years?" Renji inquired, to which he considered what he knew about the mysterious lady that was in front of him, because either she was a spirit that belonged to one of the seated members, one of the Lieutenants, or worse one of the Captains, so he might be able to fend her off until he figured out who she was, "Sorry lady, but I've never been involved with any hairy woman in my life, even if they are a Zanpakuto spirit."

The woman said nothing as the little boy that had been standing behind her the entire time finally revealed himself to Renji, though as a look of surprise appeared on his face, since he assumed that it was only the two of them in the area, he also nothing that the two of them were bound by a chain of some kind.

"How about now, Renji?" Saru asked, though she was sure that she and Hebi were wasting their time, as it appeared that their former partner wasn't going to be able to figure out who they were and why they had come here, despite what all the other spirits had done after their abandoned their masters, "Do you recognize us now?"

"Wait a second... a monkey and a snake..." Renji commented, though even as he said that the duo walked down the steps that they had been standing on and approached him, despite the fact that he was more shocked by the information that he was figuring out, "It... it can't be. The two of you... you're Zabimaru, aren't you?"

"What's this? You look rather surprised." Saru said, something that was to be expected, because the form that all Zanpakuto showed their Shinigami masters, inside their inner world, happened to be different from the one that each of them actually dreamed of taking one day, which was why they, Zabimaru, were split into two beings that made up the same Zanpakuto spirit.

"You used to be a regular monkey with a snake tail!" Renji stated, remembering the time that he had showed both Ichigo and Sombra what Zabimaru looked like, when he interrupted their Bankai training, and this clearly wasn't what he was expecting, "Of course I'd be surprised! And don't make it sound like this is such a small detail, because one spirit suddenly splitting into two different forms, even tied together, doesn't make any sense, especially since one of you is a woman and the other is a small boy!"

"That's not really important at the moment, now is it?" Saru inquired, though at the same time both she and Hebi came to a stop as they stared at Renji, who seemed to be getting ready for a battle that was definitely coming, "Renji, do you know just how heavily you relied on us and our power?"

"Really? I was relying on you?" Renji asked, as he hadn't thought about that fact, since there were some Shinigami that heavily relied on their Zanpakuto partners and others that worked with them to overcome some sort of ordeal, before he shook his head and stared at his foes once more, "Sorry, but I honestly don't have the time to waste on dealing with you two right now, not with my Captain sti..."

"Oh Renji, did you really think we'd let you get out of here in one piece?" Hebi asked, though even as he said that Saru grinned as well, showing their former master that they were responding to his movements and that were getting ready for something big, "Because we're here to finish you off and weaken our enemy's forces."

Before Renji could say anything the two spirits raised their arms, Saru raising her left arm and Hebi doing the same with his right arm, though when they were leveled with each other their red reiatsu flared for a moment, which was fine since they were being serious about their statement.

"Right, because you heard a voice that told you to obey your instincts." Renji commented, recalling what Sombra had told him and the others earlier, before he came out to see if he could figure out where his Captain went, and he stared at the pair that was in front of him, "So tell me, why must we fight?"

"Because it is in our nature!" Saru replied, though at the same time Renji noticed that the Shikai form of his Zanpakuto formed in front of their hands, though he had no idea which of them had possession of the blade at the moment, which he found out seconds later as Saru pulled her hand back, "Go get him, Hebi!"

"Already on it, Saru!" Hebi stated, to which he grabbed onto the handle of their shared Zanpakuto and raced at where Renji was standing, swinging his arm around and extending the blade to it's full length so he could crush Renji where he was standing, which was the entire reason they came out here in the first place.

Renji jumped backwards as the blade crashed down on where he had been standing a few seconds ago, though as he focused on the little boy that was attacking him, someone that he couldn't bring himself to attack at the moment, Saru rushed at him from the side and lashed out at him with her foot, something that he had to dodge as he jumped backwards and safely landed on the floor nearby. Despite Renji doing that Saru grabbed onto the chain that was wrapped around her waist and started spinning it in the air above her head, allowing her to spin Hebi around and swing him through the air, to which he drew his blade and blocked the incoming attack, where he found himself being pushed back by Hebi's attack for a few seconds. When he came to a stop, and so did his current opponent, Renji pushed back against his foe and knocked Hebi backwards into the air, though as that happened the Shikai blade disappeared and he hit the ground, only for him to swing the chain and send Saru, with the missing blade, back at Renji. This attack, despite Renji blocking it, sent him flying back into the wall that was behind him, just like he had done to Ichigo during their rematch, and the ground was carved up in the process, but in that instance he understood that trying to simply defend wasn't going to work against their tactics and made him regret not bringing some aid with him, since it's technically two on one right now.

"I figured that he'd put up more of a fight." Hebi stated, though as he stopped beside Saru, who was retracting their blade, they stared at the hole that had formed just a few seconds ago, because they had come here for a specific reason and if it ended so suddenly they would feel cheated.

"He had better not be finished yet, otherwise we'll trash this place and take out Sombra as well." Saru said, but even as she said that a slight grin appeared on her face as Renji picked himself up and emerged from the hole in the wall, which meant that he was ready to continue fighting, "You should realize that this is pointless, Renji, because your weak and you don't have the strength to defeat us."

"Excuse me?" Renji asked, because that was something new that he wasn't expecting, though at the same time he made sure to ready himself for whatever they had planned next, as there was no telling what they had planned and which of them might be coming at him next, "What does that have to do with anything?"

"Oh Renji, that's the most important part of our decision." Saru stated, though even as she said that Hebi rubbed the back of his head for a moment, meaning that it was up to her to tell Renji what was going on, which was why she was still staring at their former master, "We don't want to get weak. What we want is to grow stronger and stronger, and to do that we can't be chained to such a weak master like you. The reason we left you, Renji, is because you are a weak man and we wanted out."

Renji growled as he summoned an aura of his reiatsu around him, but instead of attempting to call out his Shikai, which he knew that was impossible since Zabimaru didn't want to give him the power that had been his, and he intended on showing his foes that he wasn't as weak as they thought he was. He charged out from where he was standing and jumped into the air as Hebi tried to strike the ground where he had been standing, since Saru had thrown him at him, but as he moved into the air Saru rushed at him and summoned their blade back to her, using the force of the collision to send him back towards the ground, only he managed to safely land and plan his next move. Before he had a chance to do anything Hebi called the blade over to him and used it to knock Renji backwards, showing that their tag team tactic was much stronger than he originally thought it would be, but at the same time he knew that they either wanted him dead or they were testing his strength before truly abandoning him to a life without his Zanpakuto spirit. Before they had a chance to do something he rushed forward and attacked Saru, though even as he struck the duo moved away from him, which was why he headed up into the area that Ichigo had fought Captain Zaraki in earlier, even though it had been rebuilt after Aizen's defection... and right now it was going to have to suffer through another battle before he defeated both halves of his Zanpakuto spirit.

It took a few moments to reach the area that he wanted to fight in, instead of the area that his Captain had suddenly disappeared in, and both of his foes dropped down into an area near him, but despite the fact that they came here to kill him, or so they claimed, both Saru and Hebi stalled for a moment, which was all he needed.

"Maybe you guys are right. Maybe I am weak." Renji stated, to which he noticed that Saru raised her eyebrow for a moment while Hebi stood there like he was tired of the fight, which was why he intended on finishing this as soon as he could, after he got what he was thinking off his chest, "But here's the thing that you might not have considered, and that is the fact that there is a being in this world that is so strong that he'd take someone like me, and that includes the two of you, out in a matter of seconds. But so what? Sombra started as a soul that eventually evolved into Adjuchas ranked Arrancar, one that was able to evolve even further and become the strongest Vasto Lorde in all of Soul Society's recorded history, before pushing his power to his limits and became a being that hasn't been seen, in both this world and Hueco Mundo, for the last thousand years. After seeing how powerful he's gotten over the months, and all the training that he went through, I am more determined to push myself to whatever limits I might have to accomplish my goals and defeat the opponent that I have been training to defeat.

That, Zabimaru, is why I have been training nonstop since I achieved my Bankai, because I know that I can get even stronger than I am now, and some day I will amass enough strength so that I can finally overcome my opponent and defeat him in battle... and you two reinforced that thought in my mind."

The moment Renji said that he shifted his stance and placed his hand on his blade, causing both of his foes to stare at him like he had lost his mind, before he gathered his reiatsu and prepared himself, because this was either going to work or he was going to fail at something else.

"Howl, Zabimaru!" Renji declared, though as he did that he moved his hand down the length of his blade and grinned as it transformed into it's Shikai form, causing both Saru and Hebi to stare at him in shock, as if they weren't expecting such a thing to happen, but this only confirmed what Sombra had told him and the others earlier.

"It seems that your determination has let you take part of our power back," Saru commented, to which she gripped the chain that was attached to Hebi's neck, who grinned as he understood what was coming up next, especially since Renji seemed to have no idea what they were doing, "but did you honestly think that this resolve of yours is enough to defeat the two of us and force us back into submission? Please, your resolve won't help you defeat us! Bankai!"

Smoke surged out of the area around where she was gripping the chain, followed by the red reiatsu that matched Renji's reiatsu forming a sphere and shrouded the duo from Renji's sight, but when the smoke and the reiatsu vanished he found Saru standing there, wielding the baboon snake that was his Bankai.

"Hihio Zabimaru." Saru said, though even as she said that her grin widened as she swung her arm, to which Hebi, who was the massive baboon snake that could be directed with the handle that replaced the Shikai handle, burst into the air and pointed it's head at Renji, "Hikotsu Taiho!"

Hebi opened his mouth and fired a dense burst of reiatsu at Renji, who dodged the attack and moved out of the way, but at the same time he didn't even bother attacking the Bankai form of his Zanpakuto, because until Sombra he didn't have the power to defeat his own Zanpakuto in this state, and the top of the building he had been standing on exploded as the attack struck it. Despite that thought, however, he couldn't resist the urge to try and swung at the large snake a few times, finding that Saru was manipulating the snake and completely avoided all of the attacks like they were nothing to her, before she directed Hebi right into Renji's back, where he dropped his blade and it fell into the top of the building he was passing over, while he hit the building near it. What just happened proved him right, that attacking his Bankai with his Shikai was a terrible idea, and at the same time he realized something, that because of the time he spent training with Zabimaru, to develop both of their skills, his foe knew his every weakness and strength, which meant that he needed to do something that his foes wouldn't see coming at all. Despite the fact that he was terrible at using Kido spells, especially when his skills were compared to someone like Sombra, it was the only thing that he could do in this situation and maybe, possibly, come out on top, which meant that he had to gamble his chances at winning.

"Unlike your pathetic excuse for a Bankai, we have no blind spots." Saru commented, though at the same time, as she stopped on the building near their foe, Hebi wrapped around her and looked down at Renji, because they knew that it was only a matter of time before they destroyed Renji, which was before Hebi returned to his original form and left their Bankai state behind for now, "You can't defeat us, Renji, and it's only a matter of time until we tire of wrecking you and accomplish what we came here to do."

"That's what you think." Renji said, to which he raised his hands for a moment and his reiatsu flared for a moment, because this was going to be something that his foes weren't going to see coming, though his foes didn't seem to care what he was doing as they stared at him, "Bakudo Number 4: Hainawa."

In the following moment two ropes of yellow reiatsu raced forward and wrapped around the arms of his targets, to stop them from moving for a few seconds at max, but even as he considered what he was going to do next he found that both of his enemies seemed to be regarding him like he was an idiot.

"Really? This is what you were planning?" Saru asked, to which both she and Hebi shattered the ropes that had been wrapped around their arms, showing that Renji's power wasn't as great as he seemed to think it was, "You're terrible at Kido, so much so that you're a danger to those around you when you use any of the spells. I never actually thought that you'd even attempt to do something like this, but even though you've done this it just proves how desperate you truly are, and it proves that you can't beat us at all."

Despite her words, and her desire to break his spirit before they 'killed' him, Renji gathered his reiatsu and started throwing a series of Hado Number 31: Shakkaho, the red sphere spell that he had used as a light in Hueco Mundo, and forced both of his enemies to dodge his attacks as he chased after them. Sure, a few of them blew up in his face, but since he was facing his Zanpakuto spirit he persisted and continued firing at his targets, forcing Saru up the nearby wall, where she actually climbed up it like a monkey would, before she reached the top of the building and gripped the chain, to which Hebi went flying towards Renji's blade. What the snake wasn't expecting was for the blade to fold over on itself a little, as if it was broken or something, though at the same time Hebi intended to use it as Saru used their blade and pulled on the chain, causing the two of them to rush towards where Renji was standing, since he was between them. Renji was expecting something like that, considering that both of his foes seemed to have missed something obvious, because he turned towards Hebi and loosed the strongest Shakkaho that he could muster, to which he grinned as the burst shattered his weakened blade and scattered the blade fragments everywhere.

As both Saru and Hebi seemed to realize that something was wrong, and just before they could move, Renji activated his Higa Zekko technique, using the scattered blade fragments to attack his foes while they were distracted, causing both of his foes to scream out in pain as they both crashed into the roof behind him and actually reverted back to their Shikai form, meaning that victory was his.

"I may be weak, Zabimaru, but as long as I have the desire to get stronger, then I will continue to get stronger." Renji stated, though at the same time he walked over to where his Zanpakuto spirit was located, staring at the blade that they had formed when he bested them, before a thought crossed his mind, "No... I WILL become even stronger... and I would like to have you along for the journey, Zabimaru."

"You're not bad, Renji." Saru spoke up, causing him to smile for a moment, as he had been hoping that one of them would have said something before he decided to leave the area, "We've come to our senses and have broken free from the hold that Muramasa placed on our minds, so we're ready to rejoin you, partner, and free the other spirits from the hold that he's placed on the others."

"I'm glad to have you guys back." Renji said, to which he gripped the blade and held it over his shoulder, just like he did sometimes when he was facing someone, before he turned in the direction of the Fourth Division's barracks and left the area that they had been fighting in, because this just confirmed what Sombra had told them.

So far they had freed two of the Zanpakuto from Muramasa's hold, which wasn't much in the grans scheme of things, but it was a good start considering that there was no telling what their foe had planned, and, with Sombra and his allies aiding them, their chances of winning were greater than they were before... and he was looking forward to seeing what sort of plan Sombra had in mind for taking the leader of the rebellion out.