Cilian vs. Gin

As Gin Ichimaru straightened up from the pillar in the corridor, the first hint of dawn was breaking on the horizon. He had spent the entire night in the corridor, from his farewell drink with Amber the previous night, to his report to Aizen, and finally, to planning his own scheme.

It's almost dawn. Yin tilted his head. "Based on the time he made contact with the Ryoka at the Hakutōmon, the report that the Ryoka is still alive should have already reached the Captain-Commander."

If the prediction is correct, the Captain-Commander will hold him accountable today:

I need to prepare some explanations to convince the old man that the Ryoka's strength is close to that of Captain-level. This will both explain why I couldn't kill them on the spot and allow Aizen's desired chaos to unfold smoothly.

He started walking towards the Third Division.

At the same time in the morning, at the Senzaikyū.

The footsteps in the corridor were heavy. Renji followed behind the jailer, Zabimaru hanging at his waist, the scabbard swaying gently with each step. Today was the day he was responsible for transferring Rukia from the Senzaikyū to the Fourth Depth Prison.

The Fourth Depth Prison is a special area for holding death row inmates. Once someone is sent there, it means there is no turning back.

The stone door was pushed open. Rukia knelt in the center of the room, her white Sin Robes wrapped around her body, her wrists and ankles handcuffed with Reiatsu Seals. Hearing the door open, she looked up and saw Renji, her eyes filled with an almost transparent calmness.

"Has the execution been brought forward again, Renji?"

"There are still fourteen days until your execution. I have been ordered to escort you to the Fourth Depth Prison of the Senzaikyū. Let's go." Renji's voice was very low.

Rukia didn't answer. She simply stood up and followed him out of the stone chamber. Walking through the long corridor of the Senzaikyū, their footsteps echoed against the stone walls. Renji walked ahead of her, without turning back...

Along the way, Renji wanted to speak many times, but he didn't know how to start. He was very dissatisfied with the judgment of Soul Society this time, and he would fully support Rukia if she could propose to resist.

Unfortunately, Rukia has shown complete submission since returning to Soul Society, as if she had resigned herself to her fate, and has not resisted at all.

Upon arriving at the Fourth Depth Prisons, Rukia sat down by a window, the very place where Rukia would be executed. Outside the window were the two instruments used for the Sōkyoku. This design was intended to allow the Soul Reaper about to be executed to repent while looking at the instruments of torture, hence the name Senzaikyū.

Perhaps out of sympathy, perhaps out of resentment, or perhaps for some other reason, Renji told Rukia about the Ryoka's invasion of Soul Society the day before, and hinted that Ichigo Ryoka also among the Ryouka's group...

After leaving the Senzaikyū, Renji walked along the corridor. Just as he was marveling at Rukia's long-lost lively expression, a gentle voice came from beside him.

"Abarai."

Sōsuke Aizen stood at the corner of the corridor. He wore Captain's Haori, held a book in his hand, and wore that unguardable smile. His glasses reflected the sunlight, obscuring his eyes.

"Captain Aizen."

Aizen led Renji to an Archive Room, and while flipping through the documents, he chatted with Renji:

"How long has it been since we spoke like this? It's been several years since you were taken away by Kenpachi Zaraki."

"Yes, Captain Aizen."

"I remember you were the Lieutenant of the Sixth Division, right?" Aizen continued flipping through the files.

Renji, unaware of Aizen's deeper meaning, asked directly, "Captain Aizen, what exactly did you call me here for?"

Aizen drew the curtains in the Archive Room and asked, "You and Rukia are quite familiar with each other, aren't you?"

Renji looked at him, about to speak, when Aizen interrupted him, "No need to hide it. I heard you two were friends back in Rukongai."

Renji: "Yes."

"Then I'll just ask directly," Aizen said. "From your perspective, did she really deserve to die?" Aizen revealed a perfectly appropriate hint of pity.

Renji's mind stirred slightly: The night before last, Marechiyo Ōmaeda mentioned that quite a few captains disapproved of the execution. Could Captain Aizen be one of them?

"Don't you find it strange?" Aizen raised his eyes, his gaze piercing through his glasses, revealing a resolute determination. "Her crimes are lending out spiritual energy without permission and failing to return on time. While these are indeed serious offenses, the problem lies in how they were handled."

"How should we handle this?" Renji wondered.

"The immediate confiscation and disposal of Gigai, the shortened grace period, the rejection of all appeals, and even the use of the Sōkyoku for execution—there are suspicious points everywhere." Aizen took a step forward and lowered his voice.

He paused. "It seems to me that all of this was forcibly brought about by someone's will."

"Wait, Captain Aizen, what do you mean by that...?"

Before Renji could finish speaking, Aizen interrupted, "I have a bad feeling. Abarai- kun, I..."

Just then, a crisp signal pierced the sky above Seireitei —it was the captains' emergency meeting!

First Division Meeting Room.

The captains of the thirteen squads arrived one after another. Shigekuni Yamamoto-Genryūsai, leaning on a cane Ryūjin Jakka, stood in the main seat. His eyes were slightly closed, and his face was as serene as an ancient tree.

Gin Ichimaru slowly walked into the hall through the main entrance:

"Oh dear~ I didn't expect almost all the captains of Seireitei to suddenly gather together for my sake."

Silver's voice still had that light, airy tone.

"Gin, I heard you took on a Ryoka by yourself at the Hakutōmon." Kenpachi, still recovering from his injuries with a thick bandage wrapped around his waist, asked, "What happened? You failed? Someone like you should be able to handle four or five Ryoka without any problem, right?"

All the captains' eyes were fixed on Yin.

"Ah~ they're not dead?"

Kenpachi: "What?"

Yin scratched his head. "I thought they were all dead. Have my senses become dulled?"

"Heh~ Captain-level Soul Reaper can tell whether someone is dead or not just from their Reiatsu," Mayuri Kurotsuchi said with a cold laugh.

"What do you mean? Why are you making it sound like I deliberately let them go?"

"It's not that it looks like that, that's exactly what I mean."

"Can you explain?" Captain-Commander Yamamoto opened his eyes and began to ask, "Regarding this blunder that allowed the Ryoka to escape!"

Yin spread her hands. "No~"

The conference room fell silent for a moment.

"What did you say?"

"There's nothing to explain," Yin continued, scratching his head. "It was my mistake."

He paused, the smile on his lips remaining unchanged. "There's nothing to explain. If there's any punishment..."

"Wait, Captain Ichimaru, I have a question for you before that."

Just then, an alarm pierced the Seireitei once more. This time, it wasn't a summons bell—it was an alarm signaling an invasion by foreign enemies.

The Ryoka has officially intruded into the Seireitei.

Yamamoto opened his eyes a crack. "All teams, deploy immediately according to your assigned defense zones."

The captains dispersed in response. Kenpachi was the first to rush out of the meeting hall with his sword on his shoulder, Yachiru perched on his shoulder, her legs swinging back and forth.

Gin Ichimaru was the last to leave the meeting room. He stood at the door, watching the captains' departing figures, the corner of his mouth remaining unchanged. Chaos had begun. Aizen's desired distraction and cover-up had been accomplished; now it was up to Aizen.

He felt the need to get to work on his plans. He turned around and walked towards the Third Division.

Gin had walked the path back to the Third Division barracks countless times. But today he walked very slowly, as if he were waiting for someone to appear.

Just as he turned the last corner, a figure emerged from the side. The person walked steadily, standing in the middle of the corridor, as if waiting specifically for him.

"After seeing the message I left you, you didn't tell anyone? I was prepared to face Aizen or the entire Seireitei's pursuit. Looks like all my preparations were in vain."

It's Cilian!

Yin stopped in her tracks.

"So that mysterious note from yesterday was left by Mr. Cilian ~" Yin still had that smiling expression, his hands in his sleeves, his tone as relaxed as when he greeted the shop owner as he passed by.

Cilian looked at Silver, her eyes calm and still, without offering any pleasantries. "Captain Ichimaru, at first I thought you were a weapon in Aizen's hands. At the gathering the day before yesterday, I thought you might be an undercover agent. But after seeing you today, I'm a little confused. So I'll get straight to the point: which side are you on?"

"Who knows?" Yin continued to evade the question.

"Last night you asked Amber about his Zanpakuto's abilities and what it could do, and you were very specific: could a part of an object that is a mixture of multiple substances be completely separated?" Cilian continued.

"Oh my? A dignified Asura actually sets up eavesdropping devices in his own disciple's house? Or has your paranoia gotten so bad that you even have to monitor the disciple you've trained?" Yin said with a hint of teasing. Clearly, after meeting Cilian, Yin had done some investigation into this veteran Soul Reaper.

"Since you know my past, you should know that I will stop at nothing to win, even if it means exploiting other people's feelings, like your feelings for Amber." Cilian touched her Zanpakuto.

"I don't like your style," Silver said, watching Cilian's movements.

"If you are the kind of person I'm looking for, this isn't superfluous," Cilian said warily to Silver.

"No matter what you think of me, you're probably wrong. And as a veteran player, you must know what happens if you attack the captain without permission, right?" Yin's smile gradually turned cold.

"I don't think I'll be the one to attack you first."

"Mr. Cilian, have you become so arrogant because of a title that you think you can challenge the captain?"

"Captain Ichimaru is the one who's really going to risk his life for a woman as promiscuous as Rangiku Matsumoto Aizen. Has he lost his mind?"

Silver's smile froze instantly.

The next instant, the Shinsō was drawn!

"Shoot him! Shinsō!"

As the Shikai, the Shinsō was drawn!

The silver blade drew an extremely thin arc in the corridor, Cilian's throat. This strike had no superfluous embellishments, only the purest thrust carrying the purest killing intent—so fast that even the blade itself was invisible, leaving only an elongated silver line.

Cilian drew her sword with her right hand, the blade slicing upwards at a precise angle into the gap between the Shinsō's blade and the air. The two swords clashed, sparks exploding between them. The Shinsō's thrust was deflected by half an inch, the blade grazing Cilian's earlobe and severing a few strands of gray hair.

" Through A Thousand Transformations in the World, the One Machine, One Heart! Thousand Mechanisms!"

With the release command, the Cilian Zanpakuto released, the left gauntlet popped out, and a short sword stabbed towards Gin's ribs from the side. Gin dodged, the short sword grazing his Shihakusho, cutting a gash in his clothes.

The usual smile still lingered on Yin's lips, but the knuckles of his fingers gripping the sword had turned slightly white. Before the Shikai light of the Shinsō's release had completely dissipated, Cilian's blade was already upon him.

"Just for saying one sentence, you're going to kill me?" Cilian parried the Shinsō's blade, and five shuriken Flying Gravel from her gauntlet, arcing towards Silver's face in five arcs:

"It seems my guess was right. There really is such a person in this world."

Silver dodged to the side, the shuriken embedded in the stone wall behind him. He swung his sword backhand, Cilian raised her blade to parry, and the two swords clashed again, the air in the corridor vibrating with a buzzing sound.

Silver's voice remained icy, laced with murderous intent, "Mr. Cilian's words were too hurtful."

"Then I really misspoke." Suddenly, Cilian's gauntlet ejected Flame Niter, and the muzzle of the musket was pointed at Silver's chest.

Silver Shunpo backward, the musket fired, the bullet grazing his sleeve. There was no scorch mark on the sleeve edge—not from gunpowder, but from a compressed Reishi bullet. "I should have apologized to you by committing seppuku, but unfortunately, my life has already been given to the Fon Clan, and I cannot atone for it!"

"Ah~ It's alright, it's alright. I was just curious about the title 'Asura.' Just how powerful is Soul Reaper called that?" The silver blade extended, piercing towards the Cilian's throat. "You don't need to give me your life, I'll take it myself!"

Cilian raised his shield to block, Iron Wall unfolding before him. The tip of the Shinsō spear struck the shield, sparks flying. "Then you'll be disappointed. My life isn't so easy to take!" Cilian's voice was flat.

Yin squinted, and the pupils that had been hidden in the slits finally opened fully.

"Again."

Silver Shunpo closed in, unleashing a flurry of Shinsō. The blade extended and retracted repeatedly, switching at the limit, its attack angles completely unpredictable. Cilian retreated, raising his shield to block several strikes, then dodging the rest. Each time, his shield appeared in a different position, precisely covering Silver's intended target.

"Your attack pattern isn't hard to read." Cilian's left gauntlet popped out of its Lock Sever. The grappling hook wrapped around the blade of the Shinsō from the side, the chain tightening and fixing the extended blade in place halfway. Silver frowned slightly; he hadn't expected this— Cilian's gauntlet had already analyzed him and was beginning to adjust its weaponry to counter his attack patterns.

"Then read this strike." With a flick of his silver arm, the Shinsō miraculously broke free of the Lock Sever hook, and in the instant it retracted, it thrust out from an even more cunning angle.

This stab was faster than any of his previous strikes—so fast that even he didn't see it clearly, he just went for it by feel. Cilian's shoulder was slashed open, and blood seeped from the tear in his Shihakusho's armor.

Cilian didn't look down at his wound. The seven core weapons on his gauntlet were flashing alternately as the two fought in the narrow corridor, sparks from the collision of blades and gauntlets exploding in the air.

"Captain Ichimaru, do you understand what you've done for that woman? What will you gain in the end? Is it all worth it?"

Silver's smile vanished completely. The silver light on the blade of the Shinsō began to tremble slightly. "Those who know nothing should not presume to judge how others live."

Cilian stood rooted to the spot, his right hand holding his katana horizontally in front of him, his left gauntlet slowly rotating. He saw it—Silver's shoulder slumped slightly, his right heel lifted off the ground, and all the attacks were aimed in the same direction: the throat!

The Shinsō out, its speed still as astonishing. But the Cilian's blade precisely sliced into the gap between the Shinsō's tip and the air, deflecting the entire blade.

At the same time, Shadow Piercer shot out from the gauntlet, its long spear piercing straight into Silver's chest.

Yin parried Chuan Ying's Shadow Piercer with a backhand slash, the gauntlet detaching from his left arm and completely deflecting the spear. Both men simultaneously withdrew their attacks and took a step back.

The corridor fell silent.

Cilian glanced at the still-bleeding wound on Silver's ribs, then looked down at the knife mark on his shoulder. He sheathed his katana, raised his left gauntlet, and retracted Shadow Piercer: "That's enough."

Gin wasn't about to let someone who had insulted Rangiku get away with it so easily. His Reiatsu surged, and it seemed he was about to use his Bankai.

Cilian sighed, "How about this, I'll give you something as an apology."

Cilian ejected a fragile, dark golden sphere of Reiatsu from her left gauntlet, then withdrew it after Shikai. She then severed her left arm, injected it with Flesh Supplement, and endured the excruciating pain to allow her left arm to regrow. She presented the severed arm and the dark golden sphere to Silver.

Silver watched Cilian's actions, somewhat confused about their meaning, and looked at Cilian hoping for an explanation.

Cilian explained, "My Zanpakuto, Thousand Mechanisms, can continuously analyze the opponent's fighting habits and abilities during battle, thereby creating a weapon that can counter the enemy. And then one day, yes, the day I saw Aizen's Shikai, my Thousand Mechanisms began to use Reiatsu to create such a thing during battle."

Silver looked somewhat surprised.

"This item is called Still Water. When crushed, it can break illusions and hypnosis for a short time. However, the level of illusion it can break depends on the Reiatsu used during its creation. This Still Water was made by me using almost all of my Reiatsu a few days ago. It might be able to help you in a critical moment."

"If you don't believe me, just take my arm to Aizen and let him verify. He should remember it clearly, after all, he attracted three Vasto Lordes during the Hueco Mundo expedition in order to kill me."

Finally, Cilian bowed deeply to Gin: "It was truly my fault for speaking such harsh words to the lady you cherish. I hope Captain Gin Ichimaru can consider the current situation and show me leniency. After Aizen is defeated, I will accept whatever punishment is imposed upon me."