"Well, this changes a lot of things, but…" Captain Kyoraku trailed off with a sigh after watching the video recordings of the Ryoka Harry gathered.
Captain Ukitake was also present within the quarters of Captain Kyoraku in Squad 8 barracks. Lieutenant Nanao stood beside Harry, watching the two Captains converse.
"But…?" Captain Ukitake prodded.
"You saw the Ryoka boy in action, did you not Harry-san?" Captain Kyoraku pinned him with a pair of grey eyes shining with curiosity.
"Yes, sir."
"Do you think the Ryoka you met is capable of killing Captain Aizen?"
Harry squirmed under the stare of the older Captain. He supposed the easy-going Captain of Squad 8 did pick up on some things from under the tutelage of the Head Captain.
"No, sir. The orange-haired boy was gravely injured in the battle with Lieutenant Abarai, and I could not sense any substantial spiritual pressure from the other two." Harry answered honestly.
"Hmm." Captain Kyoraku hummed before looking thoughtfully out of the window.
"What do you think, Nanao-chan?" the easy-going captain suddenly asked after a pregnant pause.
"If I wanted to do something nefarious within Seireitei without attracting the ire of Gotei 13, now would be the time. I like to believe someone else is using the Ryoka invasion as a smokescreen to do something terrible, and Captain Aizen was onto the culprit, which is why he was killed." Lieutenant Nanao said, surprising Harry and Captain Ukitake.
"That is a possibility, but we can't be sure if that is the case. We have yet to ascertain the identities of all the Ryoka. Until then, we can't rule out their involvement entirely." Harry reasoned.
"I think Nanao-chan is onto something here. The Central 46 has been acting odd lately. Haven't you noticed it, Harry-san?" Captain Kyoraku asked with a frown.
"It is true there have been some conflicting orders and breaking the chain of command, but this is the Central 46 we're talking about. We can't just accuse the governing body of Soul Society without any hard evidence." Harry said, finding himself in a strange role of defending the Central 46 of all things.
"Harry-san is right. What we need is evidence that the Ryoka is not involved in Captain Aizen's murder." Captain Ukitake said, looking deep in thought.
"The only way to get more details is through interrogating one of the Ryoka. We still need to know who helped a bunch of humans to enter Soul Society and how they enlisted the help of the Shiba Clan," said Lieutenant Nanao.
Just then, a huge pillar of spiritual energy made itself known in the distance. The power was so potent that it manifested in a pillar of bright yellow light that pierced the sky of the city. Anyone with a rudimentary sense of spirit energy could feel it, and anyone with eyes could see it.
"Captain Zaraki." Captain Ukitake muttered under his breath as everyone stared out the window of Captain Kyoraku's office to watch the pillar of energy grow stronger every second.
While everyone was transfixed by the growing spirit energy of Captain Zaraki, Harry's senses picked up on a much smaller spirit energy rapidly coming towards Squad 8. This particular spirit energy was different because it stood out from the energy signatures of other Soul Reapers.
"A Ryoka is coming this way, Captain Kyoraku." Harry reported. "Please allow me to take care of this one."
"Hmm. Harry-san is right. The Ryoka is nearby." said Lieutenant Nanao.
A slight tremor passed through the barracks as the Ryoka made himself known, blasting away a building. Harry looked expectantly at Captain Kyoraku and Captain Ukitake. They both nodded, giving their consent, and Harry immediately disappeared using shunpo.
Harry found himself facing a giant chocolate-skinned guy with curly black hair. He'd have said the Ryoka was a normal human except for the big bulky hand, which looked more like a limb of a Hollow.
"I do not want to hurt you. I just want to reach my friend." said the Ryoka.
"That's a strange request to make, considering you're invading my city and destroying it with whatever power you have amassed." Harry said calmly while slowly unsheathing his sword.
"I do not wish to fight you. But if you stand in my way…"
Harry raised an eyebrow when he noticed spirit energy gathering into the bulky hand on the Ryoka.
"Interesting," Harry muttered, noticing the spirit energy reinforcing the hand like a protective layer but also getting concentrated into the fist like a Kido spell or a Hollow's Cero.
The Ryoka ran towards him with his fist raised, gathering more spirit energy until the Ryoka threw a punch with a yell.
Harry raised his palm and caught the blow with a dense energy of spirit energy gathered in the palm of his hand. He rotated the energy gathered in his palm and allowed it to expel in a vortex, blowing away the gathered energy in the Ryoka's strange army.
"What!" the Ryoka gasped with wide eyes.
Harry didn't budge an inch as he had almost effortlessly thwarted the attack primed by the Ryoka.
"Why have you invaded Soul Society? Who are your accomplices, and what is your connection with the Shiba clan?" Harry asked as he tightened his grip on the fist of the Ryoka, "If you cooperate, I can help you find your friends, and you may leave Soul Society with your friends unharmed."
"I don't think I can do that. I have a promise to keep." the Ryoka said, trying to amass more power into his arm.
"Even if that promise would endanger the lives of your friends?" Harry asked, his green eyes gaining a cold edge.
"I choose to believe in my friends."
"Then you chose wrong." Harry said coldly.
The gathering spirit energy in the Ryoka's armoured hand stopped abruptly as Harry placed a binding Kido on that arm, which disrupted spirit energy from coalescing. The armoured arm reverted to a natural human arm, and Harry could feel the Kido taking effect by totally suppressing spirit energy within the Ryoka's body.
"Now then…" Harry placed the tip of his sword against the neck of the Ryoka, "…I believe you owe me some information if you value your life and the lives of your friends."
*****
Harry was in a foul mood after the fruitless interrogation he had conducted on the sole Ryoka captured so far. The tall teen who awakened strange powers of his own was now being held in Squad 4. He was unwilling to use torture to extract information. Both Captains Ukitake and Kyoraku also agreed with him, which led them to leave the Ryoka boy with Squad 4.
Otherwise, Squad 2 or Squad 12 would've used invasive ways to extract information and experimented on the human kid without a shred of remorse. Sending off the captured Ryoka to Squad 4 neatly prevented the other squads from taking the kid into custody. They did this only on the account of the kid being a human soul.
Despite doing the right thing, Harry felt no closer to finding a solution to the crisis they were facing at the moment.
If anything, the situation only worsened after he captured the Ryoka boy.
There was the disastrous news of Captain Zaraki Kenpachi losing a one-on-one battle with Ichigo Kurosaki spreading amongst Shinigami ranks. To think that a human who achieved Shinigami powers for less than a year could defeat seated officers, a lieutenant and a captain was scary. It shattered the myth of Shinigami superiority in the spirit realm. The reports of a Quincy and a red-haired girl causing havoc and defeating seated officers in southern parts of the city were also another headache. How a Quincy slipped through their defences was going to be one of the major issues after the dust settled down, and he supposed the Central 46 was going to have a field day with that particular issue.
To make matters worse, these Ryoka were only a bunch of teenagers, and they were causing so much ruckus within the Seireitei. It highlighted the abysmal failure of the Gotei 13 if they could be invaded so thoroughly by a bunch of teenagers.
Harry supposed one could argue that the average human teenagers of the World of the Living were smarter than the dumb animalistic Hollows prowling around outside Heuco Mundo. However, such excuses only highlighted the sheer failure of Gotei 13 and their defences against an invasion by their enemies.
Only a few Ryoka remained out of bounds, and hopefully, the rest would also get rounded up. Once that was done, this whole episode could be put to rest and a proper investigation could be done on who helped the Ryoka enter Soul Society from the World of the Living and who killed Captain Aizen.
He had some suspicions about who helped the Ryoka enter Soul Society. He found some suspicious names mentioned in Rukia's statements. However, the captured Ryoka has not verified these claims so far, so his findings remain unconfirmed for the moment.
A knock on his door suddenly drew Harry's attention away from the reports on his desk.
"Yes, come in."
The door slid to the side to reveal Akemi-san kneeling outside.
"Sorry to disturb you, sir. Captain Ukitake has arrived in his office. He is asking for you."
"Thank you." Harry nodded.
He walked out of his office right away and strode towards his captain's office. He found the door to Captain Ukitake's office wide open.
"Captain?"
"Thank you for coming on such short notice, Harry-san. I know these days haven't been particularly pleasant."
"It's of no issue, sir." Harry assured the haggard-looking captain.
"I mean to meet with Rukia shortly. I'd like you to accompany me."
"Is that wise, sir? Your health and the presence of Ryoka are not conducive for a meeting at this stage." Harry cautioned.
"I might not get a chance again. A missive just arrived from Central 46 asking the Captain Commander to move up the execution date. It won't be long before a new date is set up." said Captain Ukitake.
"I see." Harry muttered before nodding firmly, "I will be honoured to escort you, sir."
It didn't take long for them to start their journey to Rukia's prison. As they were not in a hurry, they didn't rush and allowed for steady steps to carry the day. This gave Harry enough time to appraise his captain with some information he found odd in his recent investigation into the Ryoka invasion.
"Sir, I found some information that you might find interesting."
"Oh. What is it?" Captain Ukitake asked with a curious look.
"In Rukia's statements to Squad 6 interrogators, she mentioned a Kisuke Urahara who runs a shop in Karakura town and set her up with a gigai. The name seemed familiar, and I did some digging into past records. I found the name tied to a sealed case. I couldn't find more information because the case is sealed with only Captain-level clearance."
"I see." Captain Ukitake hummed thoughtfully, "You suspect Urahara-san is the one helping the Ryoka?"
"It's a possibility. If the man is a former Shinigami and a fugitive, he has reasons to be hostile to the Gotei 13 and use the Ryoka invasion to his advantage."
"What're you implying, Harry-san?"
Harry took a deep breath as he was talking about a case that he had no clearance. But he pushed his luck a bit, knowing that Captain Ukitake was not as rigid with boundaries.
"If I say that Kisuke Urahara has the knowledge and capability of breaching Seireitei's defences and holds enough grudge to assassinate Captain Aizen, would you disagree?"
"No. No, I won't." Captain Ukitake said with a frown, and that answer cleared up a lot of doubts Harry was fostering in his mind.
That was all Harry could ask unless he actively encouraged his Captain to breach the secrecy act enforced by Central 46.
"Should I organise a search party for the fugitive, sir?" Harry asked.
"No. Not yet."
"Should we inform the Head Captain?" Harry asked, knowing the Head Captain would assign the task to Squad 2 as internal security was their area of focus.
"No. The incident that led to Urahara-san's exile from Soul Society is murky. Until we know for certain that Urahara-san has secretly spirited himself over to Soul Society, we'll not mention him."
"Yes, sir."
Harry didn't like it, but he'd subscribe to the greater wisdom of Captain Ukitake, who held centuries of experience over him.
As they drew closer to Rukia's prison, they could discern a strong spiritual pressure in the region. They could also feel several other spiritual pressures, including the feeble spirit energy of Rukia clashing out in the open. Harry shared a look with his captain, and they decided to speed up before something untoward happened. They were just in time as well because the sight they saw was Captain Kuchiki with his released Zanpakuto about to strike at Rukia.
"Captain Kuchiki."
Harry watched his captain catch Captain Kuchiki's hand, stopping the attack before it could injure Rukia.
"What're you doing, Captain Kuchiki? Don't you know releasing a Zanpakuto so close to the Senzakiyu is grounds for punishment?" Captain Ukitake.
Captain Kuchiki's Zanpakuto reformed itself into its sealed state. Harry found the Squad 6 Captain's Zanpakuto quite fascinating. He observed the hundreds of blades in the form of pink petals reform into a single katana blade. The spirit energy he could feel from the released state of Captain Kuchiki's Zanpakuto was sharp and refined to the point it was poised to kill. So, it was a surprise to him to note that the Shiba clan member lying face down in a pool of blood was still alive.
"War exemptions allow the unrestricted use of Zanpakuto release."
"War exemption?" Captain Ukitake froze as a new spiritual pressure slammed into the area.
Harry felt the all too familiar chaotic spiritual pressure, and he immediately knew the identity of the source of this power.
"Who is this? Clearly, this spiritual pressure is at the level of a Captain, but I don't recognise it at all." Captain Ukitake murmured.
Harry looked up to see a familiar-looking orange-haired Shinigami flying into the bridge that led to the prison entrance. His hand went to the hilt of his Zanpakuto and readied himself to face anything the Ryoka could throw at them.
Contrary to his expectation, the Ryoka boy turned his back on them and chose to bicker with Rukia.
'Of all the asinine things this guy can do..' Harry thought with a scowl.
Of course, he had to remember Ichigo Kurosaki was just a teenager thrust into the world of the Shinigami. The kid was most likely bumbling along the road with no plan. It'd explain how the Ryoka seamlessly caused so much chaos and confusion amongst the ranks of Shinigami officers.
Harry ignored the bickering and concentrated his senses on the peculiar-looking Zanpakuto in the Ryoka's hands. He had never heard of a Zanpakuto without a guard in its sealed state or in this absurd giant size.
'This is definitely a released state. But how did this human even get hold of a Zanpakuto? Did he steal one from the Academy?' Harry wondered.
The more he thought about it, the more questions bubbled up in his mind.
His attention swivelled back to the Ryoka when Captain Byakuya started moving forward, intent on cutting down the boy. Harry looked at Captain Ukitake to see what his Captain wanted done.
"We observe and do nothing." Captain Ukitake said with an unreadable look on his face.
Harry disliked that order, but it was one he intended to follow. So, he watched from the sidelines as Captain Kuchiki battled with Ichigo Kurosaki. It was quite eye-opening to see how far along the Ryoka had improved after fighting Captain Zaraki. Each move made by Captain Kuchiki were countered swiftly by the Ryoka with that giant sword with precision.
'It is obvious the Ryoka has no idea of Shunpo, but he has reached a level where he is able to track high-speed movements with ease. This is incredible.' Harry thought.
But Harry also knew the victor of this fight would undoubtedly be Captain Kuchiki. After all, reading Captain Kuchiki's high-speed movements would not help the Ryoka once the man gets serious.
The uninterrupted clash between Captain Kuchiki and the Ryoka came to a halt when Captain Kuchiki raised his sword to activate the Shikai. Despite the great strides the Ryoka has made so far, he didn't believe it was enough to withstand the released state of Captain Kuchiki's Zanpakuto. But just as Captain Kuchiki was about to release his blade, a long strip of white bandage sealed the blade. Looking keenly into it, he immediately realised the fabric seemed to be exhibiting a dense spiritual pressure capable of disrupting the cohesion of spirit energy.
His eyes went from the white fabric to the person responsible for using the trick.
It was an olive-skinned woman with waist-length dark purple hair kept in a ponytail.
"Yoruichi Shihoin. Former Captain of Squad 2 and the commander of Onmitsukido. I haven't seen your face in a while." Captain Kuchiki said stoically, hardly phased by the new arrival.
'Former Captain of Squad 2? Of course! The Goddess of Flash! No wonder why she slipped past my senses.' Harry mused while staring at this new arrival with utter fascination.
Harry also started to wonder how many other former captains sneaked into Seireitei without anyone noticing. He was now getting a better picture of what was going on now. He could now see why the Ryoka invasion was so successful. It was because the Ryoka had former captains of the Gotei 13 with them. He shook those thoughts away in favour of concentrating on the conversation.
"Yoruichi, you came to rescue me. But I need to defeat this guy and save Rukia." said Ichigo, glaring at Captain Kuchiki.
"Defeat him, you say?" Yoruichi said with a sigh.
Harry's eyes widened a fraction when the woman instantaneously appeared beside the Ryoka and plunged her arm into the abdomen. He watched the Ryoka boy collapse on the former captain's shoulder with his mind shut down. He could even feel the chaotic spiritual pressure recede from the area.
"You thrust a powerful anaesthetic directly into him, didn't you?" Captain Ukitake asked with a frown.
"Ukitake." Yoruichi acknowledged with a nod.
"What do you intend to do with him, Yoruichi?" Captain Ukitake asked.
"Don't waste your time in helping him. Neither of you will ever escape from here." Captain Kuchiki said, cutting away the ribbon sealing his Zanpakuto.
What followed was a display of unparalleled Shunpo skill on display. But in the end, the former Squad 2 Captain escaped with the Ryoka after issuing a challenge to train the boy in three days to defeat Captain Kuchiki. That threat sounded ominous but a bit too fantastical.
But who knows? The kid defeated Lieutenant Abarai and Captain Zaraki. He got the feeling the threat might actually come true somehow.
"What shall we do, Captain?" Harry asked after Captain Kuchiki left them to deal with the aftermath.
"Move the injured Ryoka to Squad 4 and return Rukia to the prison. I need to speak with Shinsui immediately."
"I will see it done, sir." Harry nodded.
"Thank you." Captain Ukitake smiled at him before disappearing using Shunpo.
Harry looked at the fallen Shiba and then at Rukia, who had immediately fallen unconscious. Then he looked at the sole conscious soul on the bridge other than himself.
"Who're you?" Harry asked the scrawny-looking Shinigami.
"Oh… I… err… Hanataro Yamada, the seventh seat of Squad 4."
"How the hell did you get involved with the Ryoka?" Harry asked curiously as he took Rukia inside the prison.
"Can't you just release her and not return her to the prison?" Hanataro asked with a sad look at the unconscious form of Rukia.
"We are obligated to follow the orders of our superior officers no matter our personal feelings." said Harry before he placed Rukia back in her prison and sealed the gate with kido.
He turned away from the prison and eyed the fallen Shiba clan member. With a sigh, he heaved the injured Shiba clansmen on his shoulder and caught Hanataro's shoulder in a vice grip.
"Hold on tight to my arm." Harry muttered.
"Huh?" Hanataro stared at him with a confused look.
Harry didn't wait for any explanation and disappeared with the two using Shunpo. His destination – the Squad 4 barracks.
******
If Harry had thought the next few days would be comparatively peaceful, it was not to be. The news that reached him from Squad 10 was anything but comforting. Lieutenant Abarai, Lieutenant Hinamori and Lieutenant Kira had all escaped from their holding cells.
Harry didn't even want to know all the details that led to three lieutenants being confined to a cell in Squad 10. There was some talk about them fighting or something, but that was just a rumour. Nothing official had yet reached him, and his Captain was absent for the whole day. Captain Ukitake was surely planning something with Captain Kyoraku.
As if this was not enough, the Central 46 made another hasty decision by moving up Rukia's execution date.
Suddenly, he sensed the presence of his captain nearing the barracks. Just as he was about to go and greet Captain Ukitake, the man appeared in his office using Shunpo.
"Captain?" Harry immediately stood up.
"Rukia's execution date has moved up." Was the first thing that came out of Captain Ukitake's mouth.
"I just received the message, Captain." Harry nodded.
"How do you feel about committing treason to stop the execution of Rukia Kuchiki?" Captain Ukitake asked out of the blue with a familiar, gentle smile.
Harry would've assumed his captain was making a joke, but considering all that was happening in the city…
'Oh, what the hell? Captains are fighting each other, and so are the lieutenants. Order and peace have completely broken down in Gotei 13. I might as well do a good deed if I'm doing something.' Harry thought, unleashing his reckless side that he had bound in chains for so long.
"How can I be of help, sir?"
AN:
To read ahead of the update schedule; pat(r) eon. C (O) M/Dragonspectre.
For artwork related to the fic:
https://discord.gg/Nw2JH25fJf