Bleach Portal

Episode 25 - Penetrate The Centre With An Enormous Bombshell?

Orihime looks at Yoruichi, who has its eyes closed in a content manner, and the latter opens them, saying that Ichigo finally created a cannonball too. It walks over to Ichigo, who is sprawled on the floor, asleep, and sits down in front of him, instructing the rest to sit too, as although Ichigo is asleep, they have no time. It will now tell them the plan for when they break into the Seireitei. Just as it begins, it suddenly jumps in fright and pain.

Later, Ganju is seen remaining in the practice hall practicing incantations as Ichigo continues to lie asleep nearby in an odd position. He sits up suddenly, exclaiming something about catnip, then asks Ganju what he was replying about – something Ganju obviously isn’t privy to. Ichigo stretches, saying that he slept well, then asks Ganju why he was sleeping here – again, something an annoyed Ganju cannot answer. Ichigo then asks what he is doing, and Ganju tells him to mind his own business and get lost.

Ishida enters and tells Ichigo that it’s time to leave. Everyone has arrived at the Kakaku Cannon, and Yoruichi’s tail is looking a bit crooked, and Ichigo comments that it looks like bendy toothbrushes. A flaming Yoruichi turns around and glares at him, asking if he has a problem, and Ichigo replies that he has none – it’s a beautiful tail, as usual. Ishida whispers to him that it was he who did it, and it took all three of them to detach him, and as Yoruichi walks away, he tells him that he’d best not mention it. Kuukaku asks where Ganju is, and Ichigo replies that he was downstairs reading something and mumbling. Just then, the man appears looking a tad exhausted, wearing odd clothes and clutching a scroll of sorts. He declares that a hero always arrives late, but Ichigo just asks him what’s up with his outfit. Ganju says that it’s his personal battle costume which he wouldn’t lend out even if he cried and begged. Ichigo asks if Ganju was only supposed to see them off, as he is wearing a “battle costume”.

Ganju marches up to him and says that his big brother was killed by Shinigamis, and while Kuukaku tries to stop him, he continues, telling her to hear him out. His brother had been a genius, accepted into the Shinigami institute on his first try, when his spirit power was at level 6, or in the league of junior adjutants in the Gotei 13. He graduated from the six-year curriculum in a year, joining an actual squad, and in 5 years becoming a lieutenant. But he was killed – betrayed by the Shinigamis who were his comrades. Being a kid back then, he doesn’t remember much, but he remembers the demon-like face of the Shinigami who dragged his brother’s body back, and his brother happily thanking that Shinigami, whose hair closely resembles Rukia’s. He does not know why he did that and why he was so happy, but he didn’t despise Shinigami. As his friends listen from nearby, saying that they never knew “boss” had such pain, he asks why his brother didn’t hate Shinigami, and why he kept believing in them. Grabbing Ichigo by the lapels (do kimonos have lapels in the first place?), he tells Ichigo that he is different from other Shinigami, from what the latter had told him when he had asked why he wants to save Rukia. He adds that he feels that if he goes with them, helps them and goes right to the edge, he might see what a true Shinigami is like.

Everyone around is touched by what Ganju has shared (his friends, Shiroganehiko and Koganehiko are crying), and Ichigo grabs Ganju’s lapels and thanks him for the help. Yoruichi, sitting one level up, asks if they are ready for the cannonball. Ichigo asks if it is able to make a cannonball, and Yoruichi asks him to put it on the floor for it to try. Ishida is surprised that it is Yoruichi’s first time, and Yoruichi jumps down from the ledge and steps onto the spirit orb. It is immediately able to form a cannonball, saying that something like this is as easy as breathing to it, surprising all of them, especially Ichigo, who falls to his hands and knees in embarrassment. Yoruichi taunts Ichigo, asking him if he is jealous that it was able to do something he took hours and hours to, in a blink of an eye. Kuukaku, standing on the platform, calls to Ganju, and he climbs up to the platform and sits in front of her. She asks him if he was able to master it, and he stands, saying that he thinks so. She says that they will go with Kakaku fire method no. 2, asking if he will be able to handle it. He grunts, and she tells him that he’d better not turn tail and run off in the middle of things, but rather, if he’s going to go, to go without fear. She smiles, then asks if everyone is ready, as there’s no turning back from this point on.

Using her fist and banging once on the cannon to open a hole opens on the side, she tells them to get inside. Dragging a large paintbrush and painting a black circle around the cannon, she says that dawn will break soon, and that’ll be the signal to start the launch procedure. Finishing the circle, she flings the brush away. Yoruichi tells those inside that once inside the Seireitei, they cannot separate no matter what, and if they meet a Captain, run away without a moment’s hesitation – their objective is Rukia’s retrieval, no more. They must not, at any time, take unnecessary risks. Sunlight starts to shine over the trees – it is dawn. Kuukaku opens her eyes and unsheathes her short sword (similar to Ganju’s) and pierces it into the platform, kneeling and starting to chant: “Beyond! Bronze-colored greed desires thirty-six degrees of control!” Inside, Yoruichi, standing on the spirit orb that is held by the rest of them, tells them that it has begun and to pour in their spirit power. They do so, forming a cannonball as Koganehiko and Shiroganehiko, outside, each have their hands together. “72 pairs of illusions. 13 pairs of Horn Flutes.” She pulls off the bandage on her hair. “The Right Hand of the Monkey...” The bandage coils itself around her arm. “…grasps the stars!” The bandages on her arm are engulfed in flames, and she punches that arm onto the black circle. Obviously crude oil, the fire spreads around the cannon, creating a ring of fire. “Embraced by 25 Suns, the cradle of sand will spill blood.” The flames go back up her arm and then up the cannon. “Kakaku fire method no. 2! Kagizaki!” The flames reach the top of the tall cannon and the cannonball shoots out into the sky. Shiroganehiko and Koganehiko congratulate her on the successful attempt, and she pulls her sword out from the ground. Looking up at the sky, she wills Ganju to be careful and come back to her.

Inside the cannonball, Ichigo comments that there wasn’t as much impact as he expected, and Ganju grins, telling him to just wait. The cannonball, reaching a maximum height, starts to move vertically at high velocity (think Willy Wonka’s glass lift), alarming all the occupants except Ganju, who pulls out the scroll he was reading earlier. Ichigo asks him what it is, and Ganju replies that it is the continuation spell for Kakaku fire method no. 2, which is a 2-part chant. The time from launch until choosing of direction is controlled by the first chant, and the second determines the speed and trajectory. This way, you bring up the accuracy of both, so if he wants to break into the Seireitei safely, don’t bother him. He adds that they also will have to stabilize the cannonball, meaning that they have to moderate everyone’s spirit power output, which they can feel just by touching the spirit orb. Everyone must regulate their spirit power to match the others – if they mess up, it’s all over. He starts the second part of the chant.

“Kakaku fire method no. 2! Continuation spell! Ties of the 3 Sparrows, Ties of the 4 Dragons, Blocking the 5 Directions, returning not 6 Ri. Heavenly Wind, the Drunkard, Spoon, Cane of Elm…” Orihime asks Ichigo to lower his spirit power emission, and he does so, but Ishida says that it is still too high. Ichigo retorts that he has already lowered it a lot, but Chad also begins to say that it is too high. “A thousand ashes, a thousand wisdoms, the sum of white clouds.” They continue to complain about Ichigo’s spirit power output, about which Ichigo cannot do anything. “Approaching Luna, stepping not on the scarlet shadow, A thousand ashes, a thousand wisdoms – ” Ganju, tears in his eyes, exclaims that Ichigo made him repeat the same line twice because he was yelling and screaming. They start a staring (and head-pushing-head) contest, and Orihime and Ishida try to stop them, to no avail. Chad glances over his own shoulder and asks them to take a look outside – it is the Seireitei.

In the Seireitei, an emergency alert is sounded regarding intruders in the Seireitei, and for all divisions to take defensive positions. At the captains’ meeting, they (namely Aizen and Zaraki) are wondering if those intruders mean the Ryoka. Without more ado, Zaraki runs off, Aizen calling after him to wait. A little girl with pink cheeks and hair is squatting on the opposite roof from the building the captains are in, and when she sees Zaraki, she leaps over and somersaults onto his back, calling out “Ken-chan” and holding her Zanpakutou by a string. It is the 10th division lieutenant Kusajishi Yachiru, who asks Zaraki if there are enemies and if he’s going to kill them. Zaraki confirms that, saying that it is some Ryoka that had fought with Ichimaru and survived – Ryoka worth fighting. He licks his chops, as the Commander says that it is unavoidable and dismisses the captains’ meeting. He says that he will inform them later of Ichimaru’s status, telling them that now, all of them are to go take internal defensive positions immediately. They start to move off, only Ichimaru remaining as Aizen walks past him, commenting that the alarm sounds rather conveniently nowadays. Hitsugaya, who is walking past, hears their conversation. Ichimaru says that he doesn’t know what Aizen means, and the latter asks the former if he thinks that excuse will work, and that he’d better not underestimate him.

In the Shrine of Penitence, Rukia is sitting by the little slit of a window, when she hears a rumbling sound. Zaraki and Yachiru also stop running as they hear the noise, and look up at the sky, where they see something green coming closer and closer. Everyone is looking at the sky, asking what it is, and Aizen says that he can’t imagine it will pass through the anti-soul shield. Hinamori says that just in case, she will have everyone move back, and raises her hand, signaling to their men to move back.

The cannonball is starting to meet some resistance from the barrier, and Yoruichi tells the to pour in all of their spirit power. They do so, and the cannonball hits the shield, fighting against it for a chance to penetrate. The Shinigami in the Seireitei stare in awe and wonderment, Aizen saying that it impacted but is not destroyed, meaning it is an extremely dense spirit mass. Ichigo yells for the cannonball to go through, and by some stroke of luck, it does, starting to dissolve as they enter the Seireitei. They do not fall to the ground yet, and Yoruichi tells them to stay together, as the cannonball and the shield are only momentarily intertwined. Soon, the cannonball will begin to whirl, then burst and be destroyed, and if they are separate at that moment, the shockwave will send them flying in different directions. It starts to whirl, turning into a hurricane of sorts. Ganju, determined not to fly away, starts to swim (no, really) towards Ichigo, Ichigo screaming for him to stay away as they make physical contact. Ganju says that if he doesn’t like it, then get out of the way. Yoruichi yells for all of them to grab the person nearest to them and hang on tight, so Ganju and Ichigo have no choice but to grab hold of each other. Chad has caught hold of Orihime, who is screaming, and Yoruichi jumps onto Ichigo’s shoulder. Ishida starts to fly away, and Chad tries to catch him, but fails. Letting go of Orihime, he goes over to Ishida, who has fallen out of the blue mass, and grabbing his cape, throws him over to Orihime, who catches him. Chad starts to shoot out to the ground like an arrow on fire. Yoruichi tells Ichigo not to worry, as Chad, for one, will be able to survive. If he wants to find him down there, first think about his own safety. Ichigo and Orihime try to link hands, but are unsuccessful, breaking away at the last moment and shooting out like Chad before them.

Zaraki watches as it splits into four, wondering which he should follow – which one, rather, is the strongest?

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