The Universal Villain

On Top of Sokyoku Hill, the walls of flames could be seen trembling periodically as powerful shocks vibrated through the ground. Dashing place to place Shen swinging his Halberd and Yamamoto using Ryujin Jakka. Clashing once again the head of the Halberd and the blade of Ryujin Jakka met again, causing the surrounding flames to move violently.

Locked in a clash Shen had been maintaining a mental log to himself during the fight. 'He's a lot swifter than Soi Fon. And the weight behind his strikes is no joke.' Shen knew Yamamoto was powerful, however, his strength was never shown much except for the rare times he used his Shikai or Bankai. "Getting distracted in your own thoughts?"

Shen was pulled back to reality as Yamamoto increased the intensity of flames covering Ryujin Jakka. With the flames quickly growing Shen had to quickly break out of the clash. Bouncing back with one leg, Shen spun the Halberd while moving to disperse the flames that were getting to close. Looking at Shen's movements Yamamoto didn't pursue him and instead spoke. "I can tell from your movements you have no formal training when it comes to fighting. However, even so, your fighting instincts are very impressive."

Hearing this Shen was too focused to respond but he could only thank his Saiyan side for the fighting instincts Yamamoto mentioned. No matter how much power someone would have without the proper ability it becomes useless. He couldn't imagine how many times the Saiyan's ability to adapt mid-battle saved him.

Noticing Shen's focus Yamamoto began to adopt a low stance while holding Ryujin Jakka as if it was still in its sheath. "Hitotsume: Nadegiri." Muttering these two words, he began moving swinging Ryujin Jakka forwards before disappearing out of Shen's field vision. Shen's eyes began surveying the area around him dozens of times over as he searched for Yamamoto before they ultimately stopped locking onto a position above him.

Withdrawing with brisk step to his right Shen spun his Halberd so the spiked end was pointing to where he was formerly standing. And as his Sharingan predicted Yamamoto appeared in the area above where he stood slashing down in an instant. That single slash alone cut deep into the hill separating the two halves in front Yamamoto as his eyes quickly moved to Shen's direction.

Thanks to Shen dodging the attack beforehand he was already in a situation to counter. Taking advantage of that he fired a beam of Ki fired out the bottom end of the Halberd. The beam of Ki engulfed Yamamoto and the ground as it carried on until hitting the wall of flames which denied it from moving any further before dissipating.

After his attack, Shen swiftly swung the Halberd back around holding it to his side as Yamamoto's figure came into view. His captain's cloak was completely gone leaving Yamamoto with his exposed upper body covered in all types of wounds. However, on top of those wounds scorch marks could be seen marking his left arm which he used to defend against Shen's attack.

Thanks to Shen merging his own power as well as the power he saved up no matter what attack he employed it would contain much more power than it would normally. "Hmph." Lowering his arm Yamamoto ignored the scorch marks as he Flash Step to appear in front of Shen. Slashing down Shen prepared to block but was surprised to see Yamamoto attacked with a faint as the slash was an entire foot away from Shen. 'He missed?' However, that thought was quickly erased as Shen was suddenly greeted by a warm orange light from above.

Hastily looking up Shen recognized a pillar of fire falling down from the roof of the fire dome. `Well, that's not good.'

As the fight raged on there, the sound body's hitting the floor followed by orange sparks flying through the air. Skating on his back Ikkaku could be seen covered in injuries along with the other lieutenants. Naturally, the one responsible for this was Rukia as she had lived up to what she had stated.

No matter how many times they attempted they couldn't take a step past the line Rukia made with her Zanpakuto. "Dammit…" Using his Shikai Ikkaku stood up as he took a look around. He didn't know how but Rukia had gotten strong enough to hold back each and every one of them even using their Shikai.

"Hya!" Flying past Ikkaku's back a double-sided sickle could be seen cutting through the air like a frisbee headed straight towards Rukia. But the moment the spinning sickle came into arms-length Rukia moved out of the wave of the blade grabbing the chain directly jerking it towards her body. Meanwhile, Shuhei, who had initiated the attack in the first place couldn't fight back against the amount of force pulling him.

With barely any struggle Shuhei was sent hurtling through the air towards Rukia who had already primed her Zanpakuto. And with one swift movement, a slash appeared across Shuhei's c.h.e.s.t. As his blood splattered onto the ground Rukia quickly switched hands using her b.a.r.e palm the impact of which caused his body to fly back into Ikkaku. Sandwiched together the two of them hit the ground back first.

Due to Rukia's orders to keep the captain's orbs guarded she didn't follow up on killing any of the lieutenants who got close. That being the main reason many of them were still alive. Turning her head in the distance, she could see the dome of fire covering Sokyoku Hill. As she continued to hold the lieutenants here the battle with Shen and the captains came to a close quickly as one by one the lieutenants could feel the spiritual pressure of their captains fall.

'If we waste any more time here it might really be too late by the time we arrive. Though at this point I guess it's if we arrive.' Thinking to himself Izuru had tried increasing the weight of Rukia's Zanpakuto however she would quickly switch to using Bakudo or Kido. 'She knows how all of our Zanpakuto work.'

It was a clear fact that Rukia knew all of their abilities too well for them to actually stop her and with her power ever growing their chances only kept getting lower and lower. 'We have to do something and quickly.'

Meanwhile back inside the dome of fire created by Yamamoto the pillar of flames continued to flow down onto Shen's position. Watching this scene from a few meters away Yamamoto waved Ryujin Jakka slightly causing the pillar of flames to finally stop as the dome went back into its idle state. As the fire dispersed Yamamoto was surprised to see a black sphere completely covering the area Shen was standing.

'So even Ryujin Jakka's flames can be nullified.' Shen didn't know the limits to his Mangekyou ability when it came to blocking attacks due to not having the time to test it. However, the fact it could block Ryujin Jakka's flames was a relief for Shen. 'Should I use it now?' After getting so close to those flames Shen had thought to himself for a moment. 'No I'll wait just a bit longer I need to make sure the timing is perfect.'

Looking down at his Halberd Shen smirked as a crack was formed on the handle's surface. 'I just need it to grow a little bit bigger.'