Bleach: Reborn — Chapter 314 - The Battle of the Seireitei
Chapter 314, The Battle of Seireitei
"King of Hueco Mundo" was not a title Wayne had ever claimed for himself. He was simply the leader of one faction within Hueco Mundo. The title had been Akon's to give, offered in his capacity as temporary wartime commander, which gave those words an entirely different weight.
Within Wayne's own faction, he was revered as king because of his strength and personal charisma. From Soul Society's perspective, his forces were simply a Hollow faction built around one man.
But Akon acknowledging Wayne as King of Hueco Mundo in an official capacity meant something. After this battle, Soul Society would recognize Wayne's standing across all three realms and actively support his dominion over Hueco Mundo, even with hundreds or thousands of Hollow tribes still scattered across it. As Soul Society hunted those tribes down, it would spread word of that support along the way.
Indirectly, Hueco Mundo and Soul Society would settle into a two-way cooperative arrangement. Soul Society would maintain the balance of souls without moving against Wayne's forces. Any matters where the two territories intersected would be discussed directly with Wayne. The two factions would no longer be enemies, and their peace would no longer rest on the thin personal ties running through Momo and Shiro-chan. They would pursue mutual benefit, bounded only by the balance of the three realms.
Of course, this was only a verbal agreement. Whether it held would depend on whether Soul Society's highest leadership could eventually sit down and sign a formal accord with Wayne.
---
"Who are you? An Arrancar?!" The gravely wounded Quilge had already trapped Ichigo Kurosaki and was winding up for a final strike on Kisuke Urahara when Wayne appeared without warning and broke his rhythm entirely. "Come to die, have you."
"Hah. An insect." Nel stepped forward. "You don't even know my lord's name, yet you dare run your mouth. The man before you is the master of Las Noches — Ace Wayne."
"Ace Wayne?" Quilge turned the name over in his mind. "His Majesty once spoke of a powerful Arrancar faction operating freely in Hueco Mundo. The force that defeated Aizen's group. So it was you."
"Yhwach doesn't even have accurate intelligence on me?" Wayne raised an eyebrow and looked back at Quilge. "Didn't your emperor give you a file on Tsukishiro Hinamori?"
"Tsukishiro Hinamori." Quilge's eyes narrowed. "Beyond the Five Special War Powers, the former 10th Division Captain Tsukishiro Hinamori was also flagged as a special combat asset. However, after the Aizen incident, Tsukishiro Hinamori defected alongside Aizen and dropped off the map. You're saying you're Tsukishiro Hinamori? But aren't you a Hollow?"
"Seems Yhwach hasn't fully recovered his power yet." Wayne was certain of it now. At least during the year Aizen was defeated, Yhwach hadn't regained enough strength to track what happened to Wayne afterward. His intelligence on Tsukishiro Hinamori stopped at the moment Wayne fled Soul Society.
"Insolence!" Quilge exploded. "A mere Hollow beast, speaking His Majesty's name directly to my face — you want to die—"
He never finished the sentence.
Quilge's vision spun. The whole world went light, weightless, tumbling. After his sight rolled several times over, he found himself looking up at his own body, standing there, right in front of him, from very far below. His head was no longer on his neck. Scarlet blood erupted from the stump in a steady fountain.
"How... can this..." Three choked syllables. Then nothing.
"How did that happen?!" Kisuke Urahara's chest seized. Wayne had been standing right there in front of him. He hadn't seen him move. How was Quilge's head already on the ground?
"Not a big deal." Wayne glanced back at Urahara. "I'm taking Orihime Inoue with me. Are you staying?"
"Ah, yes." Urahara nodded. "The way things stand, Hueco Mundo is actually the safer option right now. I need to analyze the Quincy's abilities here." He reached into his coat and produced a mobile phone, holding it out to Wayne. "Mr. Wayne, take this. We can stay in contact, and I'll pass along any intelligence the moment I have it."
"..." Wayne looked at the phone. He didn't take it. Instead, he reached up, grabbed Timd off his shoulder, and tossed him to Urahara.
"My communications officer. Tell him whatever you need."
"My, my. Mr. Wayne really is thorough." Urahara still had two arrows buried in his back, but they were flesh wounds, nothing that slowed him down. "I didn't put a tracking device in the phone, you know."
"Time is short." Wayne turned and raised his voice toward a small hill a short distance away. "Come out."
"...Tch." The reply came soaked in contempt. A moment later, a figure stepped into view, short blue hair, a muscular frame, a Hollow Hole cut through his waist, a Zanpakuto hanging at his hip.
"I was being careful." He kept both hands in his pockets. The mask fragments on his face shifted as he spoke. "How'd you notice me?"
"How did you think I wouldn't?" Wayne looked him over and let the sarcasm come. "Grimmjow. I sent you to support Harribel in expanding the eastern territory. She got taken alive by the enemy. So where were you?"
It was Grimmjow, a face Wayne hadn't seen in a long time.
After the Aizen conflict, Wayne had captured a large number of Hollows and Arrancar. Those with little practical value had been put to use as food for his subordinates. The rest were dispatched east for territorial expansion. Grimmjow was among them. Like Harribel and the others, he had a blood-red character for "Sin" carved into his lower back by Wayne.
"I was out on a mission. Absorbing a small faction." Grimmjow's lip curled. He'd accepted the humiliation of captivity, not out of cowardice, but because dying simply wasn't an option available to him. Wayne had seeded his body with the Laws of Illusion and Space. The moment Grimmjow entertained any thought of suicide or self-destruction, that illusory force would trigger and kill the impulse dead. Unless an enemy killed him outright, he couldn't end his own life. And his pride would never let him deliberately lose to a weakling just to find a way out.
So one way or another, Grimmjow had spent an entire year fighting in the east.
"When I felt the Reiatsu spiking inside the territory I rushed back, but by the time I got there everything was rubble. Spent the next few days combing through it for survivors. I only came this way after I picked up that mother shark's three females and Ichigo Kurosaki." He curled his lip again, visibly irritated at being spotted the instant he arrived.
"Your strength hasn't improved much. But the reports from below say you've pulled your weight in territorial expansion." Wayne studied him a moment, then shook his head without comment. His faction's resources were never allocated to the prisoners. And Grimmjow's appetite for combat did the rest, he'd been at the front of every push, not because he wanted to serve Wayne, but because he just liked fighting. "Stay here. Pull those three useless women back from the edge. Follow Mr. Urahara's lead. The enemy is the Quincy."
"Mmh..." Grimmjow bit down and said nothing, which was as close to agreement as he got. He couldn't beat Wayne right now, and throwing his life away in front of him would just be embarrassing.
"Let Grimmjow stay here to back you up. I'm taking Orihime Inoue. I need her."
"Of course. Go ahead." Urahara didn't move to stop him from taking the team's only healer. He knew Orihime's abilities well, and he seemed to understand exactly why Wayne had come for her specifically.
"I hope Soul Society can hold out until you get there, Mr. Wayne."
"Matter of seconds." Wayne let out a short laugh. He bent down, grabbed the unconscious Orihime Inoue off the ground, and vanished with Nel.
---
Back in Tsukishiro, Wayne had Nel see to Orihime's injuries. It didn't take long.
"Mmm... bean paste buns... so good..." A few murmured words, and Orihime blinked her eyes open. "Blue sky... white clouds... Huh? Huh? Huh? Where is this? How did I end up back in the World of the Living? Wait, no, the Reishi density here is way too high. This place is... Huh? Mr. Hinamori?"
"You're awake." Wayne had known about Orihime's groggy starts for a while now. He'd left her alone on purpose. Once she'd settled down, he spoke.
"Check your injuries. Check your Reiatsu."
"Huh? Oh... um..." Orihime closed her eyes. "Everything's fine. But — where exactly are we?"
"My home," Wayne said. "Look, there's no time to explain properly. Here's what matters: I'm taking you to Soul Society. There are people there who need your healing. A lot of people. Roughly... a thousand."
"What, how is that possible..." Orihime still didn't know the full situation in Soul Society. She'd seen the slaughter in Hueco Mundo with her own eyes, and she'd been bracing herself for the fighting in Soul Society, but hearing that number still hit her like a wall.
"Maybe it'll only be a few," Wayne said. His expression went quiet and serious. "The rest... it may already be too late."
"Huh?"
"Either way, I'll bring the wounded to you when it's time. For now, focus on recovering. I'll arrange support." He turned his hand over. A small crystal landed in front of her, glowing faintly.
"Is that... the Hōgyoku?" Orihime had seen it in Las Noches. She recognized it immediately.
"Someone will use the Hōgyoku to help restore your Reiatsu. If you're willing, it can raise your ceiling as well. They'll also bring you up to speed on the situation." As he spoke, a mouse-sized Hollow, no bigger than his thumb, scurried up and settled onto Orihime's shoulder.
"Time is short. Be ready." Wayne took Nel's hand and teleported out, leaving Orihime sitting alone, thoroughly confused.
"Ahem. Allow me to explain." Timd's clone cleared its throat and began walking Orihime through everything, recent events and what was coming next.
---
Wayne flashed through again. This time he landed in Soul Society.
It looked exactly the way the Wandenreich had looked barely thirty minutes ago.
Buildings shattered across entire districts. Dozens of blue Reiatsu pillars punched up through the Seireitei skyline, each one a Quincy teleportation point, Quincy pouring out of every one. It had been a matter of minutes. The casualties were already in the thousands. Wayne could feel it clearly, 6th Division Captain Byakuya Kuchiki, Lieutenant Renji Abarai, and 13th Division Lieutenant Rukia Kuchiki. All three had Reiatsu that was dangerously thin. All three had been defeated.
But they were still alive.
WHOOSH!
Wayne landed in the 3rd Division's defensive zone at the Seireitei's south gate. The street was rubble.
"My lord — over there." Nel pointed down the road.
In the middle of the street, a body lay face-up. One arm blown clean off. The chest caved through to the other side.
Wayne walked up and crouched over it. He frowned.
"Pathetic. After everything I put you through..." He looked at Izuru Kira's face. A quiet resignation moved through him. "What exactly have you been doing this past year, Kira?"
He picked up the body and fed it into a spatial rift. Orihime's rejection ability, the Hōgyoku, Yagami China's Law of Souls, maybe that combination could still pull Kira back. Maybe.
He didn't stop to dwell on it. He teleported again.
This time, Shiro-chan's house. Where Timd's clone was stationed.
"Granny." The moment he landed, Wayne called into the house. A beat later, a frail figure pushed the door open and stepped into view.
"Little Tsukishiro? You're back." Outside, the killing intent in the air was thick enough to taste. But a little mouse had told her to stay inside, so she had. When it came to things that mattered, Granny always knew where to stand.
"It's been a while, Granny." A smile came to Wayne's face, one that hadn't been there in a long time. He walked over and crouched down in front of her. "I'm sorry. I was held up. I should have come to see you sooner. But I don't have time to catch up properly right now."
"There's a war on outside, isn't there?" She nodded slightly, understanding written in her eyes. She'd heard the enormous sounds beyond the walls. The neighbors had already started fleeing. But this old woman had stayed right here, because Timd had told her to. That was trust with nothing held back.
"Yes. It isn't safe here anymore. I came to take you somewhere that is."
"But little Momo and Shiro-chan..."
"I've already checked. They're both safe. Once I get you settled, I'll go to them."
"Is that so." Granny nodded again. "All right. Little Tsukishiro has grown up. Gotten very strong." She reached up and held her hand softly against his face. The warmth in it was the same as ever, no different from how she looked at Shiro-chan, her own blood. "But you be careful too."
"I will." Wayne smiled at her. "Once the enemy's dealt with, I'll bring you right back home. And if you decide you like where I live, you're welcome to stay as long as you want." He opened a spatial rift.
"Granny, don't be scared. Please come with me." Nel stepped forward and took the initiative, her small, bright voice cutting through the tension. The old woman's nerves eased almost immediately.
"You must be little Nel. Little Timd's told me about you." Chatting about ordinary things as if the world weren't burning outside, Granny took Nel's hand and walked through the rift.
On the other side, in Tsukishiro, she would be well taken care of.
➤ Next: Saving Lives