Slime Soul (Tensura x Bleach Crossover) (Patreon)

Chapter 12: Into the Heart of Las Noches

With Caius

Waiting patiently as Raphael finished her analysis of Ichigo while I completed the healing, I decided to sneakily make Ichigo’s body a bit stronger while I was at it with my Biokinesis skill.

I figured I might as well give him a little boost in exchange for what I was about to gain from him once Raphael wrapped up.

“Done, Master,” came her voice in my head, calm and clear, but with a hint of chirpiness that gave away her satisfaction.

‘Did you get anything good?’ I asked curiously as I stepped back from Ichigo, now fully healed, watching him flex his hands and roll his shoulders to check himself over.

“Yes, Master,” Raphael replied promptly and sounding a bit smug. “I’m already working on implementing several small adjustments to your body and certain skills.”

Feeling a smile grow on my face as I began to notice subtle changes taking place, I nodded, both at her and at Ichigo, who gave a small nod of thanks in return.

‘Excellent. Fill me in on the details later. We’ve got company.’

Right on cue, the sharp Shunpo of approaching figures signaled the arrival of Renji and Rukia behind us, followed soon after by Uryu and Sado.

“Guys! You’re all okay!” Ichigo exclaimed with a wide smile, clearly relieved as he turned to greet his friends.

I shared a quick glance with Nelliel, and together we stepped aside to give the group space as they reunited, Orihime tearing up and laughing as she was quickly surrounded by her friends. Rukia, Sado, and Uryu looked visibly relieved, their joy at seeing her again impossible to hide.

It was a nice moment.

Thankfully, none of the other Captains had shown up yet. If they had, things probably wouldn’t have gone this smoothly. I had no doubt I’d immediately come to blows with at least one of them, Kurotsuchi, most likely, due to... well, existing.

The last thing I needed was to watch my back from both Aizen’s forces and the Shinigami at the same time.

I could sense them in the distance, Unohana and Kenpachi were still in the same spot where we’d left them with Byakuya having joined them. Kurotsuchi, on the other hand, was much farther off. I could only guess he was either searching for Szayelaporro’s lab or sniffing around for research subjects. Typical mad scientist behavior.

Using the relative calm, I glanced down at my hands and curled them into fists, focusing on the subtle shift I could feel within myself, especially in my spiritual pressure.

‘My body feels a lot stronger now,’ I thought satisfied, almost smirking as blue lines almost looking like veins appeared over my skin for less than a second before disappearing again.

I was pulled from my thoughts a moment later when I felt Nelliel poke my cheek.

Blinking at the unexpected sensation, I turned to look at her, one brow raised. She stood there with her brows cutely scrunched, one hand under her chin, and her head tilted as she observed me intently.

“What is it, Nel? Do I have something on my face?”

“Hmm… You feel a little more like an Arrancar now,” she murmured, continuing to poke me. “But also not. It’s actually really strange. When you first evolved, I couldn’t feel anything from you at all, except for this gut feeling that you were incredibly strong. But now I can sense you clearly.”

‘I see. She’s sensing the changes through the Soul Corridor now. Makes sense,’ I thought, with Raphael quietly confirming it a second later.

“That is correct.”

“When I shared some of my power with you, it created a connection between us,” I explained with a soft smile, deciding there was no point in hiding it. “That’s why you can sense me so clearly now, especially after my evolution.”

After all, Raphael didn’t strike me as the type of being that would let strangers take a peek at my being. The smug ‘hmph’ I heard immediately after only proved my point.

Nelliel’s eyes widened slightly in understanding before she broke into a pleased smile. “I see~ So that’s the reason.” She giggled softly, a faint blush dusting her cheeks. If anything, she seemed happy about our new bond rather than disturbed by it.

While she remained blissfully in her own world for a moment, I let my thoughts drift to the looming danger ahead.

‘With Espadas 5 through 9 out of the picture, that only leaves the top five. If I remember right, Aizen should be preparing to invade the living world any time now with the remaining Espada, minus Ulquiorra and Yammy for the time being…’

As if on cue, I suddenly sensed two strong spiritual signatures speeding toward Ichigo and the others. My instincts flared in warning.

“Nel! We’ve got incoming!” I shouted, pulling her out of her daydream. In a flash, I shot forward, racing to intercept.

Nelliel recovered quickly and followed just behind me, but we weren’t fast enough.

Hundreds of Gillians appeared overhead, spilling from the gaping mouth of a massive white Hollow that had suddenly appeared in the sky from seemingly nowhere, Hooleer, if I remembered right, and began charging Cero in unison.

“Tch. No choice but to deal with this first,” I muttered, halting mid-air with a narrowed gaze. “Stay behind me, Nel. I’ll handle them.”

“Alright,” she replied calmly, stepping back without argument.

‘Damn it. So this was the distraction,’ I thought in annoyance, watching as a crimson wave of light surged toward us, the Gillians releasing their Cero in unison. Ichigo and his group would never survive this barrage with their current strength.

“Beelzebuth, devour everything.”

With a flick of my hand, the sky-darkening mass of Cero was consumed in a sweeping vortex of void energy, my Ultimate Skill hungrily devouring every trace of the assault, along with the Gillians themselves, before the first beam could land.

Not pausing to admire the aftermath, I bolted forward again, Nelliel close behind.

But then I heard it.

“Inoue!!”

Ichigo’s desperate yell.

We arrived a second later, and my gaze immediately locked onto two retreating figures: Coyote Starrk, Primera Espada, and Ulquiorra Cifer, the Cuatro Espada.

The latter had Orihime slung over his shoulder, unconscious or stunned.

Both wore long black cloaks, similar to the ones Kisuke had invented that hid one’s spiritual pressure if I was not mistaken, judging by how they’d gotten so close without me sensing them until they close enough.

‘Shit. They timed it perfectly. That bastard actually got one over on us.’

As if summoned by my thoughts, I felt a sudden ripple in the air, a familiar sensation from Ashido’s memories. A kido was being cast.

‘Bakudō #77. Tenteikūra, if I’m not mistaken…’

“Since it didn’t seem dangerous, I allowed the spell to affect you as well, Master,” Raphael said, her voice sounding a touch annoyed at the intrusion.

‘It’s fine. Let’s see what the bastard has to say.’

“Can you hear me, my dear intruders… and the Anomaly?” Aizen’s voice rang out, smooth and cold as ever. That subtle arrogance? Unmistakable.

“That voice…” Rukia muttered, eyes narrowing.

“Aizen.” Ichigo growled, fists clenching.

“Let’s hear him out,” I muttered calmly, finally reaching the group with Nelliel beside me.

“I commend you for defeating the Espada thus far,” Aizen continued, his tone disturbingly polite. “As a reward, I offer you this. We will now proceed with our invasion of the World of the Living.”

“What!?” Ichigo barked, eyes wide in disbelief.

“It can’t be!” Uryu said, equally stunned, clutching an injury. “I thought there wouldn’t be an invasion until Inoue-san awakened the Hogyoku!”

“Orihime Inoue will be kept in the Fifth Tower,” Aizen stated coolly, as if reciting a schedule. “If you wish to rescue her… come and get her. She is no longer of use to me.”

“…What?” Sado breathed out, pale.

“Did he say… no longer of use?” Renji echoed, looking shaken.

“Her powers are incredible. Her ability to reject all forms of phenomenon exceeds all bounds of human potential. The upper ranks of the Soul Society understood the importance of that power. That is why her capture would be a threat to them, and they took steps, not to protect the World of the Living, but the Soul Society itself.”

“Tch. Useless,” I muttered under my breath with a sneer. Nelliel glanced at me but said nothing, though I saw a flicker of agreement in her eyes.

“And her presence served as the perfect bait. Bait for the Ryoka. For the Substitute Soul Reaper. For the Soul Society’s potential new military strength.”

Rukia’s face darkened. “Damn it…”

Aizen’s voice pressed on. “I’ve also succeeded in sealing away the four Captains who entered Hueco Mundo.”

Right on cue, I felt the lingering Garganta portals that the Shinigami had used to get here snap shut.

“Can’t we open it up from this side!?” Uryu muttered, panicking slightly.

“Relax,” I said, keeping my tone even. “We’ll reopen them later. Let’s hear the rest of what he has to say.”

My words seemed to ground the others, if only a little.

We all listened as Aizen was unsurprised about the presence of the Gotei 13’s in the Fake Karakura Town. The real stage was set, and we were now standing on the wrong side of the board.

“…Until then, I leave Las Noches to you Ulquiorra. Yammy.”

The moment he spoke their names, their spiritual pressure flared to life. I felt it, along with the presence of Orihime coming from the same direction.

“And to the intriguing Anomaly that popped out of nowhere…”

I tensed slightly knowing he was finally referring to me. Nelliel instinctively moved closer to me.

“I find myself increasingly curious about you,” Aizen said, voice laced with mockery, though the curiosity beneath was all too real. “So please, do keep amusing me, won’t you?”

“…Seems we’ll have to come to blows after all,” I murmured, more to myself than anyone else.

To be honest, I’d always expected it. My existence was already enough to put Soul Society, Aizen, and Yhwach on edge with my astronomical growth in power and me being something new and most importantly unknown to them. Between my power, my goals, and my ties to this world?

Yeah. Conflict was inevitable.

As Aizen’s voice faded, the quiet was broken by the familiar sound of Shunpo, and not just one. The forms of Unohana and her subordinates, Kenpachi and Yachiru, and finally Byakuya Kuchiki appeared around us, each one radiating various degrees of curiosity, wariness, and in Kenpachi’s case, raw excitement.

The latter two immediately fixed their gazes on me, Nelliel, and our group. Their spiritual pressure didn’t spike, but it didn’t take a genius to feel the coiled tension in the air.

Knowing conflict was more or less guaranteed if I stuck around any longer, I turned to Ichigo, who already looked ready to launch himself into battle.

“Hey, Ichigo,” I called, walking past the silent captains. “Let’s go rescue your girlfriend already. I’ll even lend a hand.”

Predictably, Ichigo turned the color of his namesake. “I’ve told you already! Inoue is not my girlfriend!”

“Whatever you say,” I replied with a shrug, not bothering to hide the smirk on my face.

Turning to his friends, I raised an eyebrow. “You all coming too?”

“Of course!” Rukia replied firmly. “Inoue is our friend as well.”

The others nodded in agreement. That was all I needed.

“Good. Then let’s move. The faster we deal with rescuing her, the sooner you’ll be able to return and help out in the World of the Living.”

Ichigo gave a determined nod. “Let’s move!”

Without another word, he launched himself into the air, the rest of us quick to follow.

Using my Magic Sense, I could see the forms of Byakuya and Kenpachi lingering behind, speaking with Unohana. Their gazes lingered on Nelliel and me for a moment longer before finally turning away.

‘I’m going to have to start watching the Soul Society more carefully…’ I thought as we sped off.

“Don’t worry, Master. I will be on the lookout as well.” Raphael said in support which I appreciated.

=====

Meanwhile — With the Shinigami Captains

As the ragtag group departed, Unohana’s expression turned thoughtful.

“Captain Unohana,” Byakuya said calmly, turning toward her. “Would you care to explain who that white-haired man is, and why Kurosaki Ichigo is so friendly with him and those Arrancar?”

“His name is Caius Aurelius,” came an unexpected answer from Kenpachi. He was grinning wide, the corner of his mouth still bruised from their encounter.

“I don’t know what he is,” Kenpachi said with a chuckle. “And frankly, I don’t really care. What I can tell you is he’s strong as hell. Took me out without even breaking a sweat. And I’ve got this feeling he’s still hiding most of what he can really do.”

He trembled slightly with anticipation, his grin growing. “I can’t wait to fight him again. Gonna be fun.”

Byakuya narrowed his eyes, then turned back to Unohana. “Your assessment?”

Unohana was quiet for a moment before speaking. “I agree with Captain Zaraki. I have no idea what exactly he is, but… he’s dangerous. Very dangerous.” Her tone was uncharacteristically serious.

Then, as if remembering her station, she softened slightly. “Thankfully, it seems Kurosaki-san has made another unexpected alliance with someone strong.”

Byakuya nodded slowly, thoughtful.

“We should locate Captain Kurotsuchi,” Unohana continued. “Just in case Kurosaki-san’s companion is unable, or unwilling, to open a Garganta for us.”

“Very well,” Byakuya said.

“Tch. That bastard’s hogging all the fun fights,” Kenpachi muttered under his breath, arms crossed and scowling. He was ignored.

=====

Back With Caius

As we neared the Fifth Tower where Orihime was located, I spotted a horde of hundreds of Hollows gathering below, clearly waiting for us.

“We should split up,” I called out midair, grabbing everyone’s attention. “One group can handle the fodder below. The rest of us will go after the Espada and any other Arrancar guarding Inoue-san.”

“I’m going after Ulquiorra!” Ichigo shouted, his tone leaving no room for argument.

“Well then, I guess that leaves Yammy to me,” I said before anyone else could volunteer.

“Are you sure you can handle him?” Rukia asked, sounding concerned. “Didn’t you say he was the strongest of the Espada?”

“Exactly,” I replied evenly. “That’s why I should be the one to fight him. No offense, but I’m currently a lot stronger than any of you right now.”

As expected, several of them winced at my bluntness but didn’t argue.

“Want some backup, Caius~?” Nelliel offered with a sunny smile, completely unfazed having already witnessed my strength first hand.

“I’ll be fine, Nel,” I said, turning to her with a softer look. “Help the others handle the hollows. There’s no one I trust more to protect them than you.”

Her eyes softened, cheeks pinking slightly. “Alright then. I’ll do my best to protect everyone!”

“…Aren’t you a little too happy about that?” Uryu muttered under his breath.

“So it’s settled,” I said, glancing toward the top of the tower. “Ichigo and I will take on the Espada, while everyone else cleans up the trash below. Though, we should bring someone in case more Arrancar show up.”

“I’ll go,” Uryu said, stepping forward without hesitation.

No one objected.

Just in time, too, we’d reached the tower.

“Let’s do this,” I said, locking onto the signatures of Yammy and Ulquiorra.

“We’re coming, Inoue!” Ichigo shouted with fire in his voice.

‘Seriously, just ask her out already,’ I thought, rolling my eyes fondly.