Chasing Shadows {Closed}

[Lhin Demizu]

It had been many months since she had physically been within the Seireitei, and longer still since she had convened a meeting of the taichos. As she investigated the death of Yamamoto she had stumbled upon a breadcrumb trail. A trail that was easily missed for those that had been untrained in the ways of solitude and secrecy that she had been by her own volition.

Swapping from gigai to gigai to lose those of the third divisiion that where always tracking her she stopped in a small town in Germany. It was cold there and it gave her the perfect disguise to stay bundled up and listen to others while hiding within. Walking down the street she pulled the hood over her face as the winds whipped her. Talking to herself she was speaking in a whisper.

"Who is this Enigma... I feel as if I am but chasing shadows across the globe. From Karakura Town, to Egypt, London, New York... I have jumped across this planet several times just seeking this shadow. I must find them as the truth cannot be silenced any longer."

Her words fell just out of her lips as she felt the winds pick p around her and a strand of her unusually tinted hair slipped out and was visible to a few of the locals. Though they paid her no mind as they assumed it was some rebellious youth not knowing the sheer power and responsibility that was walking beside them.

Turning into an alley she leaned back against a nearby wall. Her breath visible as she looked at the snowflakes begin to fall around her.

"I cannot believe it has been too long since I just stopped... and watched the snow fall, or the rain... Life moves on too fast and I no longer have time for the things that made me happy. So long as I have my duty it is all I need..."

Words spoken into the wind that swirled around her as she closed her eyes to feel out for nearby reiatsu. Feeling but a few quincy, a single hollow, and shinigami within the region she felt at ease. A nearby bench became her refuge as she sat upon it wondering where to go from here.

[Hirato Murano]

A solitary figure clad in a heavy coat with the hood pulled up moved quickly through the snow in a small German town close to the northern border of the country, a relatively peaceful portion of the European powerhouse that now generated so much wealth for the entire continent. It also happened to be the home to one of his bases, scattered through Europe as he tried to keep tabs on what was happening in each nation in addition to how that might affect his forces and plans. His green eyes peered through the snow, a smile on his face as always. Recently, a shadow had pursued him relentlessly across the earth and it was no ordinary shadow, no mere pawn of the Gotei 13 he had cast aside so long ago for his freedom; despite her gigai, Enigma knew her to be Xiaoyu Demizu, the Captain of the 1st Division and Captain Commander of the Gotei 13. The Rogue had effortlessly evaded her time and time again and immediately transferred to another location, still chased by the petite woman at every turn, who convinced him to allow her to catch up if only to determine her purpose for chasing after him so tirelessly.

Enigma noticed a strand of her blue hair, feeling some small sense of victory at finding her before she recognized his presence as more than a regular human. Of course, his reiatsu was suppressed to the point where it appeared to be a non-spiritually aware human and his footsteps through the deep snow made no noise, a skill he had picked up under Yoruichi-chan and carried with him to this day. His smile widened considerably and his pace quickened, intent on meeting the new Captain Commander before she slipped off to avoid the dogs from the 3rd tailing her. They were persistent but not particularly good at their jobs, or at least not as good as their subject, who was sufficiently skilled in the art of evasion and stealthy maneuvers. An even greater smile reached from ear to ear on the young face of the man named Enigma, who listened to her words and sat on the bench next to him, whistling merrily.

"Alas, that is the curse of a soldier, isn't it, Sotaicho-san?" commented the Rogue leader with the same wide smile and light tone, speaking to her as he would a friend or associate. He knew exactly how many days had passed since she was surrounded by the white walls of the enslaved and he knew that many more days had passed since she was surrounded by the leaders of the dogs of the Gotei 13. Their discussions and plans meant nothing to him, but he liked to know what they were doing, nonetheless. The thought of humans taking down Shinigami made him laugh hysterically: humans, who couldn't destroy a single Hollow by themselves and died so easily to weak opponents, bringing down gods of death who reigned over them in their black robes and dispatched the vile creatures? Absolutely ridiculous. These "Assassins" did mildly interest him, but they weren't worth any of his resources or subordinates now that his war with Hirato had already begun.

Enigma moved back his hood just enough so that Xiao-san could see his green orbs and nothing more of his face, wishing to remain a mystery in her eyes and in the eyes of the Gotei 13 who suppressed their servants with powerful chains, words like "honor" and "duty", neither of which meant a thing in Enigma's world. The world he lived in was one of shadow and secrecy, one where the amount of information you had determined the money you got and where the money you got determined if you lived through the night or not. His mind returned to the matter at hand and he posed the question bothering him for a great number of months to his pursuer. "Why do you chase after me, Sotaicho-san? I assume it's not for small talk," said the green-eyed man with the same smile and a more serious tone of voice, indicating he was actually interested in hearing her response. The Rogue didn't think it was for combat, either, but he had brought along his Zanpakuto just in case, now concealed with the heavy coat he wore to protect himself from the bitter cold. Would the leader of the dog pack disappoint him or would she surprise him and play his game? He simply didn't know.

[Lhin Demizu]

Upon hearing a voice behind her she smiled. Internally she knew that the shadow had caught her instead of the other way around. Hearing his words about the curse of the soldier to her statement to herself she spoke up.

"True... and who better to know than those who have been locked into its grip for so long. Be it in the public eye as I am now, or in the shadows where you dwell."

Her words where calm and calculated as she knew full well that in her current state she was nothing against Enigma. Turning her face she got a glimpse of his eyes to prove it really was the person she was pursuing. Then came the question that she knew was inevitable. Nodding to the man she let out a light cough.

"No this is not for idle chitchat. I would not seek out one wanted so badly by the Central Fourty Six for some selfish reasons. I have come to seek you because I managed to steal a peak at some documents meant for only the Fourty Sixes eyes. They mentioned the death of Yamamoto Genryusai. So I read them and decided to try and do what the rest of the Gotei couldnt."

Turning her head she looked directly at the man. Speaking back up after the momentary silence.

"I need to know whatever it is you know about his death and anything you have on these assassins that are out here. For I want to know how it is humans managed to get power to even match our weakest."

[Namonai Bakuzento]

Enigma didn't find fault with the Sotaicho-san's words in any shape or form; instead, he felt complimented by them and had long ago accepted that the shadows were his domain, where he dwelt and plotted his war on his redheaded enemy. They belonged to him now, a drastic change from he was but a child and was trapped by them, constrained by them, yet now he controlled them and bent them to his will as he liked, always to further his own mysterious goals. His green eyes met hers and he knew she was confirming that he was in fact Enigma, leader of the Rogue organization that operated in the Soul Society and not a stand-in or body double sent by him. He smiled wider and awaited the request for which she had pursued him so relentlessly across the globe, hoping it would not disappoint him.

It certainly did not, for she first stated that she had glanced documents meant only for the eyes of those rigid and foolish old men who had no business running the empire that was the Gotei 13 and that they concerned the death of Yama-jii, her predecessor as Captain Commander and Captain of the 1st Division. That was an impressive feat on its own, but keeping the fact of her reading them from the Central 46 was even more impressive to the black haired man sitting next to her on a cold bench in Germany. Enigma knew what her request was now and he might be interested in it, for the right price, of course. The Rogue leader sighed and breathed, seemingly more interested in watching the path of his breath in the frigid air than the words of the head of the Gotei 13.

His smile only grew wider at the request phrased like a demand, for even though she was the leader of the Gotei 13, she had no authority or right to demand anything of him, who had cut all ties to it a very long time ago. Meeting her gaze, he responded to her request, all with a great smile on his face. "I'm confident that you could pay me sufficiently for the information, but the real question is do you really want to know?" He spoke in a light tone, but some seriousness seeped into it for the second portion of his reply, as he wondered if the Sotaicho had any inkling of the true horrible nature of the death of Yamamoto Genryusai. The bastards in the Central 46 had done something so revolting, it even disgusted him. "It's a very unpleasant story, even to me," added the Rogue leader, his smile waning somewhat at the thought of the plot surrounding the death of Yamamoto and what they had forced upon a Shinigami, framing it as duty. Xiao-san was obviously not going to leave without the information or she wouldn't have followed him to the middle of nowhere in a European winter. It was now time for business; he had to sell information to the one person he had honestly never expected to buy it from him, no matter the circumstances: the Captain Commander of the Gotei 13.

"120,000 in whatever currency you like, and I'll tell you whatever you want to know, Sotaicho," offered Enigma, leaving off the respectful honorific simply because he wanted to and decided not to pretend to respect the woman who had taken Yamamoto's place in the hierarchy of Soul Society. The price was high, but that was due to the difficulty in obtaining the information from the confidential files of the court of the Central 46, which was considerable even to someone who commanded as massive an organization as he did. Enigma had to cause an accident to a member of the Central 46 and steal the documents from him, later delivering an exact copy of them to his residence via one of the stealth masters of his organization. Preventing them from linking back to him or his organization was also a challenging feat, but he accomplished both and returned with some extremely valuable information. Now Enigma sat back, watching the snow fall and waiting for the Sotaicho's answer.

[Lhin Demizu]

Upon hearing the words coming from the Enigma's mouth she knew exactly who it was she was getting into business with. This man was into all the dirty little secrets and had a very high price for the information. His question about whether or not she wished to know the information though made her mentally balk. Cause up until this point she was so certain that she wanted to know. Certain down to her very core, but to her just the very way he mentioned it and put it made her start to question this very belief.

"You price is a steep one for this information. I do not have that amount with me because I have been searching for you for months. Draining the allocated funds I appropriated for myself in the human world."

Letting it out that she was nearly tapped out financially was not very tactically sound but she had something else she was certain to intrigue him. Information only the Soitaicho knew one of the biggest secrets of all the Gotei. The single thing that Yamaoto had left in hurridly scrawled script sealed with his seal for the next Soitaicho. Taking a deep breath she let it out as her breath rolled out before her a small fog bank on the snowy evening.

"I can give you something that I could be damned to a life with you and your exiles. The information Aizen Sosuke launched his entire war to obtain. Singular in purpose and in scope."

Taking a moment she stood up and removed her hood exposing the light blue hair to any wandering eyes as she looked at Enigma trying to catch his green eyes in her gaze. As she spoke her words where serious and filled with the power she had gained in her position.

"I will give you and your ilk full pardons of your crimes against the Gotei Thirteen... and I will give you information on the King's Key."

[Namonai Bakuzento]

The Rogue leader smiled even wider when he sensed that his question had made the Sotaicho question her own desire to learn the information she had sought him for, spending months in the human world lying low and evading the pursuers sent from the forces of the leashed dogs. Although her reaction pleased him, he did not phrase it the way he had in order to give the Gotei 13's leader pause but simply because that was the truth of the unpleasantness surrounding the top secret information he possessed. Enigma gazed at her, taking in the blue haired form of the petite and deciding that she was indeed speaking truthfully about her lack of funds. His green eyes flicked back in front of him and he simply enjoyed the sight of the snow falling on the German countryside for a few moments before he addressed her comment regarding the price of the information. "If you knew how much trouble obtaining it was, you'd charge a similar amount, Sotaicho," said Enigma frankly, his smile lessening somewhat while recollecting how difficult acquiring secret records from the Central 46 was and how he had to spend so much money to cover his tracks. He could not have Central 46 searching for him and his organization as well, especially since they had the authority to mobilize the entire Gotei 13 as well as the Kido Corps and the Omnitskido.

Enigma raised his eyebrows in response to her words, interested in the type of information that could mean the exile of the Captain Commander of the Gotei 13 and her fall from power, which would certainly destabilize the Gotei 13 once more similar to its destabilization due to Yamamoto's death. The name Aizen Sosuke caused him to momentarily frown in disgust, not because he had freed himself from the shackles of the Gotei, but because he had fallen so far as to incorporate Hollow powers into himself in an attempt to gain even greater strength. His interested gaze moved in the direction of the Sotaicho's blue eyes, obviously demonstrating that he wanted to know the singular purpose for which that scum had waged his war and killed so many. Even with his almost limitless resources and massive organization, that was a piece of information he had never obtained and had resolved he would simply have to not know it. He could not refuse her offer and now that he had heard she knew it, he could not do without learning the one purpose behind the Winter War, Aizen's struggle to destroy Karakura Town and topple the Gotei 13.

Her next words amused him so much, he could not stop himself from laughing heartily at them, although he did hold onto his hood tightly so the Sotaicho couldn't see more than just his eyes. "He and his ilk", as she put it, had committed acts that the current Shinigami of the Gotei 13 would never forgive as long as they drew breath, let alone allow them to be pardoned without protest. The pardon did interest him and this King's Key did as well, so he found his only option was to exchange his information for the knowledge held by the blue haired woman who sat next to him on a bench in the middle of an European winter. While pardoning his actions and that of his brethren by the authority of the Gotei 13 was indeed a power of the Captain Commander and would be taken as an absolute order from the Shinigami leader, the green eyed man could not imagine how the Shinigami could accept it with no dissent or open defiance. Enigma finally managed to regain his composure and speak to Demizu-san, his voice amused and airy. "Do you even know what I did the day of my liberation, Sotaicho?" asked the master of the shadows, both to remind her of how much information she did not know about him and to legitimately inquire about the reach of her research. In contrast, he knew everything about her he needed to know: her aptitude in Kido, her skill in Shunpo, the appearance and abilities of her Shikai and Bankai, as well as the identity of the man she lost in the Winter War.

Deciding to test whether the information was as interesting as it sounded and to reinforce her position of powerlessness to her, he would play his game with her and see what cards she was holding. "I'll tell you what you want to know after I hear your information and determine it interesting enough to warrant my consent to this exchange," stated the former Captain seriously, the smile on his face growing smaller to show he was not joking about the terms of the agreement and his conditions regarding them. She was the one pushed into the corner currently and he was simply bringing that to her attention once more, refusing to disclose the information she desired until his conditions had been met to his satisfaction. He controlled the shadows in which her desire existed and he held the key to the door she had chosen to open, so cooperating with him was not optional if she truly wanted the information she had spent months in the human world searching for and hiding from the dogs sent to track her down. Of course, if he was in her situation, he would have simply eliminated the trackers using the first opportunity he got and created many false trails to throw off any additional tails. The Sotaicho was certainly experienced and powerful, fighting through countless battles to defeat a myriad of opponents and forces that challenged her, but he knew he was more ruthless than she was and that that sentiment might cost her dearly.

[Lhin Demizu]

Xiao's breath drew in an out slowly the cloud from her breaths appearing then fading around her face with the movement of the light wind around them. Each of her movements she thought through, every nuance of her being was being controlled tightly as to not give away the internal turmoil she was feeling. The question of what he did on the day of his liberation from the Gotei 13 was raised to her, and she had learned the official version but she wished to hear the real reason.

"I know the 'official' version. The one released from the Central 46 and the... sycophants they control. So I can be assured that the version I know is half truths and bold faced lies about you and your compatriots."

Her words where smooth and sure of herself as she looked over at him. Reaching up she caught a snowflake on her fingertip. Watching it melt slowly into water she smiled as the water created a small ball before sliding down her gloved hand. Though the smile faded as he spoke about her spilling her information before he would give her the information she sought.

"Fine... If I wish to know the truth I guess having to accept the dark path I will gave to walk down is where I must go."

Turning her back to him she drew in several large breaths as she brought the information to her immediate retrieval section of her brain. Coughing lightly as she turned to face him she began to speak.

"To create the Oken is a hard task. As it requires the sacrifice of over a hundred thousand souls and a Jureichi with its radius being over half a spirit mile. The true nature of this power is granted to only those called into the Zero Division and the gatekeeper on this side."

Her information given she was glancing around to make sure none where listening in other than the man she was speaking with.

[Namonai Bakuzento]

The smile on Enigma's face widened as he listened to her try to manipulate him into telling her what she wanted to know. Such a feeble attempt would never work on him, a man who had spent his entire life perfecting the invaluable skill of controlling others through whatever means necessary. Enigma decided to share some of his personal philosophy with Sotaicho-san and correct her on several points which she didn't seem to fully comprehend; the green eyed man corrected her, saying, "Please don't misunderstand, Sotaicho-san. The only ones I consider sycophants are those politicians who have no business leading a military organization,". The Rogue leader respected a few of the Captains of the Gotei 13, including the woman who sat next to him in the middle of a German winter. Enigma didn't like how the ranks of the Captains no longer consisted of soldiers, but rather an assortment of other positions he thought unworthy of wearing the white cloak on their backs. A madman, a wolf, and an arrogant noble topped his list.

"I respect you as a worthy foe, Sotaicho-san," the black haired man admitted honestly, the smile on his face lessening. His green eyes took in the sight of winter and a light smile spread on his features; winter was his favorite season and German winters were simply magnificent. "You, unlike many of your fellow Captains, are a true soldier," Enigma continued. The current Sotaicho-san, like her predecessor, deserved the position of leadership over the Gotei 13, although the Central 46 was a plague on an otherwise capable and powerful military organization. Enigma knew she wanted him to recall his version of the day he had left the Gotei 13 and he wouldn't indulge her curiosity. She would hear some of his personal philosophy, nothing more. "The fox, the madman, the arrogant noble, and the brat are all unworthy of the title of Captain," listed the Rogue leader matter-of-factly. Enigma watched her evenly, waiting for her to stop wasting his time and tell him what he wanted to know. She would get nothing from him before that happened.

His smile grew into a pleased one as Sotaicho-san finally told him what he wanted to know, although she did leave a few crucial details out. "Are you the gatekeeper on this side then, Sotaicho-san?" the Rogue leader asked curiously. Enigma knew of the Soul King secondhand and could imagine why Aizen Sosuke wanted the King's Key; the execution of his plans was awful and he had lost too many strong subordinates before the war even started. "I imagine the members of the Zero Division are far stronger than regular Captains, correct, Sotaicho-san?" Enigma questioned, still not willing to divulge the information about Yamamoto-san's death to the Sotaicho. Once she told him everything he wanted to know, he would reciprocate the gesture and reveal the horrible truth about Yamamoto-san's death. His ire had extended to the Central 46 for some time now, but this information made him determined to take them down and establish the Shinigami as the rulers of the Soul Society.

[Lhin Demizu]

Xiaoyu smirked to herself as she realized that once again the dance would continue. Each of them slowly revealing their hands and knowledge til the trust between them would be laid bare for both to see. As he spoke of the politicians running the Gotei she internally blanched as her own hate for the Central 46 had grown since taking the position of Soitaicho.

As he spoke of her being a worthy foe she smiled and bowed her head a little out of a mutua respect for the Exile. The next compliment spoke volumes to her as she knew that her own record was quite tightly sealed as she had made it that way. So his knowledge of it was rather shocking in one hand but knowing who he was it really wasnt.

"Well until their deaths or something occurs I sadly cannot just remove them from their positions... As for if I am the gatekeeper. Well I am the only person on this side with knowledge of the Oken. So yes I am the gatekeeper on this side."

She listened to his final question and smiled as she formulated the answer in her head.

"Well I can safely say that they are all at minimum equal to me. Most far exceed my own strength and dare I say dwarf it in many aspects."

[Namonai Bakuzento]

Enigma noticed her response to his compliments and her surprise to his knowledge of them; the Sotaicho-san did not yet know the size and scope of his organization, for even records of her service were readily available to him. Any information in the Soul Society he deemed relevant was obtained, regardless of how top secret it was or how well the Gotei 13 attempted to lock it away. Enigma listened to her statement about the Central 46 with interest and noted that she was, in fact, the gatekeeper in the Soul Society. His green eyes glanced toward the Sotaicho-san when she said that the Royal Guard members were at least as powerful as her, and greatly exceeded her power in many ways. "Still, the Royal Guard don't intervene in the affairs of the Soul Society unless it is absolutely necessary, do they?" asked the Rogue leader, thinking of only several occasions in living memory when the Royal Guard had descended down to the Soul Society. They had no reason to intervene in the establishment of a Shinigami regime with no intention of threatening the Soul King.

A smile grew on the face of the black haired man and he responded to the Sotaicho-san's earlier statement, saying, "It is possible that someone else possesses the means to drag those bastards out of their seat of power, Sotaicho-san," venom filling his voice. Enigma would stop at nothing to remove them from power and punish them sufficiently: the only two appropriate sentences were death or life imprisonment. The Rogue leader finished processing the information given to him by the Captain-Commander and frowned upon remembering the information he had promised in return. It was all Enigma could do to keep his body from shaking due to the fury that entered his form. His green eyes burned as they returned to watching the snow fall. There was no point in skipping around the subject now. "Yamamoto-san's death was not due to natural causes. Unohana-san assassinated him with poison on the orders of the Central 46," Enigma said. Those bastards would die or rot away forever for this and Shinigami would rule the Soul Society, as they should have from the very beginning. Politicians had no place controlling a military organization; their debates should never affect the conduct of Shinigami in any way.

"It never made sense that a medical Kido user of Unohana-san's level would take so long to determine that Yamamoto-san died a natural death," Enigma continued. The former 3rd Captain glanced over toward the Sotaicho-san and looked away again, a furious expression still on his face. After taking several long breaths, Enigma said, "Unohana-san used an almost untraceable poison, of course, but even then she still took the time to cover her tracks and made sure no one could examine the body to find the truth,". The Central 46 had rewarded the successful completion of their orders and Unohana-san's silence with a promotion to the Royal Guard. Enigma would overthrow all of them and allow the Shinigami to control what was rightly theirs; their power and position as soldiers made them the right choice to lead a military organization. His personal guard was powerful enough to achieve his goal with his aid and Enigma swore that one day the Central 46 would fall.

[Lhin Demizu]

"Normally they never get involved in the affairs of the Gotei. That is unless the entire safety of the Seireitei is in jeopardy."

She responded quickly to the man as she knew that their time there may be cut short at any time. Though as a smile crossed his face she felt a slight shiver go down her back. The words he spoke about laying low the Central 46 echoed into her mind as a vipers poison coursing through the veins of a victim. Though she would never openly admit that she herself felt the burning disdain for the Central decision makers as she had fought with them time and again about things.

Though this disdain turned into a burning hatred as she listened to the information she had sought the man out for. As the words sunk in her anger began to show as her calm and cool demeanor started to slip as the snow around her suddenly vanished as if the very water within it had been sucked out and her reiatsu flared.

"I knew Unohana-taicho. We all trusted her with our lives and I feel that the Central 46 had something on her and leveraged her to do that. Then she was sent away to keep her silent as her entire report screamed the same as the reports of you and your ilks day of liberation. Yet there where her words seemed to be giving away what occured but I could never piece it all together."

Her hands where clenched as she glared at the ground. Her reiatsu barely held back by the limiters on her person as the anger on her voice was apparent.

"Tell me one last thing then I will leave you be... Can you prove what they did to the masses of Shinigami?"

[Namonai Bakuzento]

Enigma nodded, taking in the information about the Royal Guard. It was unlikely that they would factor into his plans to overthrow the Central 46, although the Captains and Lieutenants certainly did. His personal guard was powerful enough to defeat anyone who stood in his way, all of them possessing power near the Sotaicho's level. His green eyes clearly saw the fury in her gaze and the Rogue leader sensed the hatred in her reiatsu, thinking for a moment about the possibility of the Sotaicho aiding him in his plans. They shared a common enemy and Enigma had to admit they did have some other similarities as well. The green eyed man glanced toward the petite form of the Sotaicho and said, "I can provide undeniable evidence of the Central 46's crimes, Sotaicho-san,". Information was his trade and the information obtained on this crime was an official document meant only for the eyes of the Central 46. No Shinigami could deny its authenticity. Enigma stood up from the bench and began walking away, stopping after a few steps.

"As for the humans, the Winter War triggered a widespread awakening of latent spiritual powers in the human world," Enigma added, glancing back toward the Sotaicho. The Rogue leader walked away silently, his business with the Sotaicho finished for now. Their desire to take down the Gotei 13 was mutual and she had even offered him and his men pardons for their crimes; Enigma had not expected such an action from her at all. His organization would take down the Arrancar and the Assassins if it got the chance. The black haired man was only interested in taking down the Central 46, not destroying the Seireitei. If the Order violated the treaty, Enigma was prepared to go into the human world himself with his personal guard and reduce it to ashes. With one last look at the Sotaicho, Enigma said, "The enemy of my enemy is my friend, eh?" His black robed form turned away and Enigma disappeared in a flash of Shunpo, returning back home.

{Exit Enigma}

[Lhin Demizu]

"Than be ready to share that information with all of the Gotei captains and lieutenants. As such actions will not be tolerated by me nor should be any longer."

Her response cold as the winter air that swirled around them due to her reiatsu being pulled back within constraint. Taking several long deep breaths she watched the mist of her breath roll before her as Enigma continued on his speaking about the humans and their sudden rise in spiritual prowess.

"I had heard and have seen that in person in my last trip before this one... It is why I fought for a division to be created that is always in the human world. A forward listening post for the grumblings of humans that had powers ."

Turning as Enigma did she smirked as he left. Her hair hiding her face as she heard him speak one final time.

"Aye they are. Though you have to watch them the closest as you never know when the enemy of your enemy becomes one for you as well..."

With the words spoken she waited for his pressure to vanish before popping a Mod Soul and standing there as a Senkaimon appeared behind her.

"Now let the real acting commence..."

Turning she walked into the tunnel a butterfly greeting her as she did so. It carried a message for her. The Central 46 wish to speak with you now. On charges of dereliction of duty. She smirked wider as the message was passed to her. Walking into the Seireitei she smiled as she stood there alone.

"They would need a Royal Guard to stop me should they try to take my blade... Let them try."