Interlude NH
-Squad 4 Barracks-
Things had not been going well for Natsumi Hanakage ever since the Ryoka decided to launch their little invasion.
What should have been a straightforward tracking mission for an intruder had resulted in a dismantling of her team and her own defeat at the hands of a foe that barely seemed to take them seriously.
Since then, she had been all but imprisoned in the medical area by an increasingly overworked Squad 4. More and more casualties poured in as the majority of Squad 11 was collected from various battlegrounds, their own attempts at stopping the Ryoka not really going any better than hers did and various Seated Officers were discovered after being defeated in duels. As such, Captain Unohana was making her way through the barracks making sure that no one was giving the medics any unneeded stress as they dealt with anything from near-death cases such as Lieutenant Renji Abarai, who had arrived barely an hour after she did, to worms like Sanji Ikari, a member of a minor noble family who severely sprained his ankle and was practically demanding priority treatment from one of the attendants.
At the time Natsumi had been trying to convince her own attendant to let her leave and report back to Squad 2, bruises and concussion be damned. She was even being polite to the clearly overworked girl! Mostly. Okay, her temper was starting to take over but she really needed to contact her Captain.
When Natsumi saw Captain Unohana walking towards her, she thought it would be perfect to explain the urgency of the situation so she could leave. Then Ikari opened his mouth and drew the Captain's attention.
While the conversation between the two didn't carry down the hall, Natsumi suddenly felt very afraid of the gentle Captain. Something about her smile was just sending all kinds of warnings that annoying her would end badly. Luckily for him, Ikari must have felt the same since he gave the attendant no more issues.
By the time Unohana reached Natsumi and politely asked if she needed anything, all thoughts of trying to leave before getting cleared by the medics had been thoroughly suppressed. Instead Natsumi simply thanked the Captain and requested the attendant to alert her Captain she was awake and needed a meeting, as well as to retrieve her reports so she could keep up to date on the situation even if she couldn't leave.
By the smirk on the attendant's face, Natsumi wasn't fooling anyone. But they still granted her request and sent two messengers off, while Natsumi went back to her room.
Minutes later a different Squad 4 member arrived with stacks of paperwork and a message that Captain Soi-Fon was busy dealing with several immediate issues and would only have the time to see Natsumi in the morning.
After thanking the messenger, Natsumi followed him to a different area of the barracks where she was provided with another room. One meant for mostly recovered officers most likely, considering the desk along one of the walls.
She once again thanked the messenger, then sat down at the desk and began shifting through the various reports.
-o-
Early next morning, Natsumi was finally getting caught up with the full state of the disaster that had happened since the rest of the Ryoka forces had appeared.
Squad 11 was essentially wiped out. The rank and file had run into a few high level combatants and in their normal brain dead fashion simply tried to overwhelm the invaders in a straightforward fight.
Needless to say, it did not go well. Now 80% of the squad was getting patched up along with their third, fifth, and eighth seat officers. Other squads had taken casualties but the 11th was by far the worst. However, the other squads were dealing with other issues than massive personnel loss.
Squad 6's Renji Abarai had been nearly killed facing the invaders. While that wasn't any different from the information Natsumi picked up from the staff's gossip network, what was shocking was that Abarai was promptly imprisoned after treatment on charges of dereliction and acts unbecoming of an officer.
That had the rest of Squad 6 running around like headless chickens trying to organise chain of command, patrol routes, normal day-to-day, and other things without bringing the attention of Captain Kuchiki down on them. Not that Natsumi could blame them, since the captain himself decided that an emergency situation was the perfect time to go insane and personally imprison his Lieutenant.
The other squads were doing a similar dance as various officers were disabled. Luckily most were only wounded, whether those were light or moderate wounds varied, but the officers could still perform most of their duties from a hospital bed if needed.
Squad 7's 4th Seat Jirōbō Ikkanzaka was not as fortunate.
The large man had been found early into the main invasion of the Ryoka with several crippling injuries. Some so grave that his career as a Shinigami was likely over barring a miracle.
Natsumi was so caught up in her paperwork that she didn't realize she was not alone until a cold voice startled her. "While it's nice to see you take your job seriously Third Seat Hanakage, I believe there was a matter that you needed to discuss with me?"
Instantly she snapped to attention and spun to face her captain, launching out of the chair that had been provided to her in the process. "Apologies Captain, I didn't notice you come in."
The commander of the Stealth Force and Captain of Squad 2 Soi-fon was standing in the middle of the office/bedroom Natsumi had been provided when it became clear she wasn't leaving. Thankfully while the captain did seem annoyed, it didn't seem like Natsumi was the direct source of it.
Which was a very good thing since despite being a few inches taller than her captain, the sheer weight of her gaze made Natsumi feel an inch tall. If she was the cause of her captain's mood there was no way she would feel capable of making her report.
'Which might change very soon, anyway.' she thought darkly. After all, her report wasn't good news.
"Report. I want to hear every detail about your encounter with the Ryoka."
Dutifully Natsumi recounted the entire encounter, explaining how a near textbook ambush failed so spectacularly, how a squad containing elites of the unit was taken down like academy initiates, and finally the conversation she had with the red and black clad invader.
Captain Soi-fon's face was a picture of anger by the end of the report. Natsumi was doing her best to look calm, but inside she was trembling. An angry captain wasn't something you wanted to be anywhere close to if it could be helped.
"Do you have any indication the Ryoka was lying about knowing the identity of the traitors?" The Captain asked once she calmed down some.
Natsumi was shocked, "I didn't see any overt signs of lying, but surely you can't be taking this seriously? Three traitors undiscovered for over a hundred years? Its unthinkable…"
"Normally, I might agree with you. However the Captain of Squad 5, Sousuke Aizen, failed to arrive for the morning Captain's meeting. Something that has only happened a handful of times during his time as a Captain. Initially we thought he was delayed by something caused by the Ryoka, but now we will need to locate him immediately and confirm he wasn't assassinated."
Her eyes sharpened and focused on Natsumi, "Third Seat Hanakage, how exactly did the Ryoka manage to defeat you in one attack."
It wasn't a question. Just a slightly more polite demand for an explanation.
"I…" Natsumi began haltingly, fidgeting under the gaze of her captain. "...I let my guard down." She finally admitted.
"When the Ryoka shattered my barrier and I caught her with Kusarihebi, I assumed she couldn't use another ranged attack without either spiking her Reiatsu or freeing herself first. So I relaxed my defences while I waited for reinforcements. Then the Ryoka pulled out a device that was capable of firing something like a Cero and it disabled me."
"She can use Cero?" The captain snapped, looking shocked.
Natsumi shook her head, "In form only, other than that the attack lacked the feel and power of even the weakest Ceros. But I left myself completely open and that was enough."
Captain Soi-fon nodded at the new information, "Very well, under normal circumstances are you capable of defeating this Ryoka?"
Natsumi carefully thought about her answer, "It's hard to say for certain since the Ryoka kept such a tight handle on her Reiatsu level the entire fight, but I don't believe she is out of my capabilities."
Once again, the captain nodded, "Unfortunately, the rest of the squad is tied up so I cannot send any support with you. Even so… Natsumi Hanakage!" Captain Soi-fon suddenly said.
Natsumi straightened up. "Captain!"
"I'm ordering you to track down the Ryoka and capture her. Report to no one other than either myself or Head-Captain Yamamoto until the identities of any traitors has been confirmed."
With that Captain Soi-fon spun on her heel and made her way to the door. Pausing at the entrance to look over her shoulder. "One more thing, do not allow yourself to lower your guard again. Nobility politics may have forced that buffoon Omaeda into a position above you, but I will not accept your skills falling to his level. Is that understood?"
Natsumi bowed deeply, "Yes ma'am. It won't happen again."
Award Spirit 2.10
Historically speaking, in most conflicts the defending side has an inherent advantage when it comes to indoor fighting. At least in a confrontation between two similarly armed combatants with no specially prepared options.
The attacker can only enter through certain areas, blindspots caused by doors can be exploited,
Kido gave a big middle finger to that advantage.
Up until this moment, I thought the biggest reason most of the surrounding buildings in the Seireitei were as large as they are was due to aesthetics as the 'capital of the afterlife' thing they were going for.
Now that I was stuck in a relatively tiny room with only one exit and an enemy that was possibly capable of filling said room with fire, lighting, and explosions the thought of having a lot of room to avoid those things suddenly really appealed to me.
While I was making plans on how to confront the Soul Reaper in front of me, I was also checking her over. It was only a day since we fought, yet she seemed completely recovered. Her black hair tied behind her in a simple braid, and dark grey eyes darting between myself and the room.
"You look good," I said casually. "But then I guess your medics have gotten a lot of practice recently."
It definitely was not a good idea to taunt from my position, but finding myself cornered was making me feel a bit more aggressive than I normally would be. And it seems I was expressing that by shoving the fact my group had put dozens of her friends and colleagues into the hospital in her face.
I closed my eyes and inhaled deeply, wrestling with my sudden anxiety until I calmed down some.
Once I opened them again I looked directly at Natsumi's face. She had a placid calm expression, but I could clearly see the anger in her eyes.
"Sorry, that was tasteless of me." I said.
"Indeed," Natsumi replied. "You on the other hand, look a bit scuffed up."
The light jab at my appearance was easily ignored. What she was really fishing for was who I fought and the result of the fight. I wasn't really interested in telling her though, so I kept quiet.
"You seem much less talkative, miss Ryoka." Natsumi continued. "I thought you said you were okay with continuing our chat."
She had a point. I kinda wanted to slip the Soul Reapers some more information, and since the last Soul Reaper I talked to was taking a nap for the next few days this would be the best chance.
I opened my mouth to respond, and snapped it shut as I half turned to look at the wall behind me.
The massive spiritual presence that had been hanging over us suddenly cut out. The sudden absence of it startled me with the feeling of 'emptiness' but that one second was enough to distract me.
Natsumi's hand slashed the air in front of her.
"Bakudo #4: Hainawa."
A golden rope burst out of her fingertips and wound its way around my torso, pinning my right arm at the same time.
"Wha the…" I managed to get out before she yanked on the end of the rope. I was pulled off my feet and out into the air.
The bitch threw me off the side of a cliff!
The rope splintered into light as I severed it with the blade in my left hand. Didn't stop me from falling a few hundred feet into a dense forest, but on the bright side I wasn't tied up anymore. Still falling, so that was an issue, but I also wasn't trapped in a room anymore.
Eh, I'll call it a net positive.
The trees were now pretty close and while flight was on the very long list of spells I wanted, it was also one of the many that required too much computation to do without a device. Even floating was kinda had to pull off, and that was when I wasn't in freefall.
Tiny branches started snapping as I passed through them. I grabbed at some of the thicker ones and used them to bleed off some momentum before managing to kick off the trunk of one of the larger trees and land on a different branch big enough to comfortably stand on. I was brought to all fours from the force of the impact but I wasn't smashed into the forest floor so I couldn't complain.
Natsumi appeared across from me with shunpo, a wide smirk on her face. "I apologize," She said. "I feel like our conversation would be better without whatever surprises you had in your hideout."
"So you threw me off a cliff?"
She shrugged, "If that's all it took to take you out I could simply hand you over to the captain. Since you handled it we can either head back to the squad barracks peacefully or I can drag you there by force if you prefer."
"I'm noticing a distinct lack of actual talking in this conversation." I said dryly as I straightened up.
Natsumi tilted her head and glared at me a little, though the smirk remained in place. "In many cases a fight is simply a conversation by physical means. Also surprisingly enough my Captain doesn't trust the word of an invader that showed up out of nowhere, so surrender and you can present your case. Or don't and I drag you back."
So go into the den of superpowered ghost assassins, or refuse and fight an officer I already easily beat. Well that was a hard choice.
"I think I'll pass on both choices, thanks." I replied.
"Drag you back by force it is." Natsumi said, hints of cheerful malice showing through the calm air she had been projecting. She held her sword out to one side and released it with a quick cry. After a few quick spins of the chain, Natsumi threw the now sickle bladed weapon at me.
I tried hacking at the chain to get the whole thing tangled up in some of the branches surrounding us, but while I was able to deflect her weapon the chain squirmed like a living thing and actually nicked me on the way back to her hands. It wasn't much, just a small cut that barely broke the skin on my shoulder, but that it hit me at all was surprising.
This far away my short swords didn't do me much good so I threw both of them at the Soul Reaper while tracing a bow. It didn't do much as they were blown out of the air by dual blasts of blue fire. I growled in frustration while firing an explosive arrow, trying to retake the initiative in the fight.
She managed to block the arrow itself, but couldn't do much about the resulting explosion as she was blown back by the force. A cloud of smoke obscured her from my view as I prepared another arrow. Instead of moving closer like I expected Natsumi fell back a bit, holding her sickle in one hand while the other yanked on the chain that disappeared somewhere in the forest.
I drew the string back and took aim, just in time for a whip to slam into my back with the force of a runaway car knocking me forward.
I bit of a curse and brought my bow up just in time to stop Natsumi from slashing into my side and locked the two weapons together as she landed higher up on the tree I was standing on. With a quick flip Natsumi used my arm as a springboard to send a kick at my head. I let my bow disperse and used my left arm to block the attack. Even with that I was sent skidding down the tree a few feet, though I was able to see that the whip from earlier was actually the other end of the chain on Natsumi's weapon. She must have used the trees to hide it getting behind me and attack me from behind.
Clever. Annoying, but clever.
Kansho and Bakuya once again appeared in my hands as I used Haste to close the distance between us. Rather than clash with me Natsumi began retreating, throwing her weapon at me again and again while I was forced to duck around her blade or deflect it. More small cuts appeared on my arms and legs from where the chain reacted unnaturally when she reeled it in.
Suddenly a white hot lance of pain erupted from my left hip as I missed a block and the sickle bit deep into my side. This time I didn't suppress the stream of curses as blood welled out of the cut. I hissed as I placed a hand over it while I stared at Natsumi.
"What's the matter miss Ryoka? Confused about how this is going differently than you expected?" Natsumi taunted from a little way off. She was also apparently reading my mind.
"You see, unlike most squads in the Gotei 13, Squad 2 rarely specialises in straight forward fights. Unlike last time, I know how you fight, can use the environment against you, and am not tied down by teammates who ran off to be morons." She continued smugly, though I noted there was some real anger when she talked about the two she was with last time.
An ugly thought crept into my mind as I glared at the Third Seat Officer that was so far the most powerful enemy I faced this entire time.
"You're one of those under-ranked officers aren't you?" I accusingly hissed at her.
Natsumi tilted her head, frowning. "Under-ranked?"
"Yeah, like the third and fifth from Squad 11. They would be could be higher ranked if they were in another squad but stayed for whatever reason."
Natsumi's eyebrows raised, "You know about that? Interesting. But yes, you could say I'm in a somewhat similar position to them."
Great, a non-cannon officer that was worth a damn. I knew they probably existed but I was hoping to avoid them until after this mess was taken care of.
During the whole conversation I had turned my injured side away from Natsumi's view, trying to use a healing spell to slow the bleeding. I think it worked, but like most of my healing spells it would take too long to actually heal and was more of a patch job.
"Guess I can't play around anymore can I?" My hand dropped away from my side. A sword fell into my hand, hidden by the rest of my body from Natsumi.
Even if she couldn't see me trace the sword, Natsumi obviously saw my hand shift. "Is that so? Does that mean you will be using that gun again?" Her lips curled into a small sneer, "Don't think you can catch me off guard like that again."
I started just a little, "You know what a gun is?"
Natsumi sighed, her shoulders slumping down as a look of exasperation appeared on her face. "Why does everyone assume Shinigami have no idea about modern weaponry? We do transport souls of soldiers along with everyone else, you know?"
"I guess its a common question?"
"Every few years we get some teenager who died in an accident and finds themselves in the poorer districts. For whatever reason they think recreating guns will put them on top of the pecking order. Then they meet someone who has too much Reiatsu to be hurt by a normal piece of metal and get killed."
I… I didn't know how to respond to that.
"R-right, no, I know it won't work on you now." I stuttered. "But I have other tricks up my sleeves." My eyes hardened and I whipped the sword forward, a crimson fireball racing up the blade and straight toward the shocked Soul Reaper.
Natsumi dodged a direct hit, but the resulting explosion kicks up a thick smokescreen. With a flick of my wrist I trace another weapon and throw it off to the side and rush her. My left arm came down in a powerful chop but Natsumi caught the copied Tobiume in the chains of her weapon. I pressed down on her making her scowl while I smirked in return.
"Surprise!"Spirit 2.11
The chain strained under the weight of my copied sword. The links groaning lightly as I added more pressure. Natsumi growled at me as her eyes jumped between the blade and my face, making sure that the sword really was the same one she thought it was but taking care to be on guard in case I tried something.
"How do you have that sword." She demanded as I pushed the blade another inch forward. Her arms began to tremble slightly but she held my sword back just the same.
"Well, that one Liuetenant kept throwing fireballs at me. So I decided I wanted one of my own." I replied. "Yours looked fun too."
I held up the weapon in my right hand, surprisingly Natsumi hadn't noticed how similar it was to her own until now. Her eyes widen as recognition hits her.
"How is th- "
A black chain burst out of the surrounding branches and coiled around Natsumi's leg. I gave a harsh tug on my end that pulled her leg out from under her. With her balance destroyed, she was unable to prevent the copy of Tobiume from continuing forward, biting deep into her right shoulder. Natsumi recovered quickly as she fell away from my sword. Despite the probably incredibly painful wound in her shoulder, she snapped up her hand and with a now familiar cry caused a fireball to rush towards my face.
Shakkahō!
The crimson orb didn't have far to travel so I was only just able to cover my face before I was engulfed in the explosion. I flashed mana through my body, reinforcing it as much as I could to lower the damage dealt. While the heat and force vanished in a painful instant, smoke surrounded my upper body in a thick haze blocking everything from view.
I hastily jumped back, swishing my hands through the smoke to clear my vision. As I did, I noticed that I had lost focus trying to resist the fireball and both my weapons had broken as a result. Tobiume had snapped roughly in half while Kusarihebi was reduced to just the handle, both the sickle blade and chain having been destroyed. With barely a thought I dismissed the broken blades.
Landing on a different branch I quickly traced my twin swords again and looked around for Natsumi. I didn't see her but I did spot her own chain whipping towards me. Dodging was impossible so I merely brought both blades up in preparation to block.
Natsumi clearly had other ideas. There was another flash of red light from a different direction and I suddenly found the branch I was on disconnected from the main trunk. Just in time for the chain to slam into me.
Unable to brace against anything I was swatted out of the air and sent crashing through some of the smaller branches before cratering on the forest floor. I wasn't really injured by either the attack or the crash, even if they did hurt, but the sudden flight had left me disoriented and Natsumi was now thoroughly hidden in the trees.
Shit, that isn't good.
I slowly made my way back to my feet, eyes darting to every twitching branch expecting to see another attack. Ready to react to anything I saw coming my way.
Nothing.
"Are we playing hide-n-seek now?" I called out.
Natsumi's voice echoed out of the surroundings. I wasn't sure if it was just the forest or if she did something but I couldn't pinpoint where it was coming from.
"Apologies Ryoka, but the time for games passed when we found a Captain assassinated earlier today. Now I will simply do my duty, capture you, and find out everything you know about Captain Aizen's death."
Okay, looks like they found Aizen's fake body. That was good and bad for me. Good because Aizen hadn't changed the broad strokes of his plan even with my interference and that the Soul Reapers would definitely have to pay attention to my traitor warning. Well provided anyone other than Natsumi and Soifon knew I had warned them. Bad because Central 46 was certainly dead now and Aizen was running the government.
"So I proved you had a traitor and you still want to fight me? Why not work with me rather than fight?" I asked.
"Because we do not have any proof it wasn't your group anyway." I turned in a circle, slowly making my way back to the treeline. "You told us a Captain was a target. You've said nothing to convince me that it wasn't your group trying to shift the blame to in internal issue, it wouldn't be the first time someone tried that." I jumped back towards the center of the clearing as a blue flash exploded in front of me. Just to duck as the weighted end of a chain slashed through the air where my chest had been a second earlier.
I slashed at the chain as it passed over my head and pinned it to the ground using both blades to catch the chain in an 'X' and stabbing it as far into the ground as I could. Once that was done I followed the chain with a Haste. Only to stop when I saw it twist into the trees and out of sight.
Wasn't going to walk into that trap.
Still no reason not to punish her leaving her weapon vulnerable. A quick trace later I had a sai in my hand and stabbed it deep into the tree, pinning the chain to the wood.
"That won't work"
The only warning I had was the slight sound of feet kicking off bark somewhere above my head. I turned quickly to see Natsumi appear out of a sudden Shunpo and raised the rapier that appeared in my hands to ward off the sudden attack.
I turned away the first slash of her sickle but the following kick landed on my wounded hip, causing me to wince in pain. Natsumi took advantage of the opening, ducking under a retaliatory slash and swiping upwards.
Pain erupted on my right arm before I lost all sensation below my elbow. A quick glance confirmed despite the freely bleeding wound I still had my arm, but she must have severed the nerves or something since I couldn't move it at all. Unwilling to let her get a second attack in, I tried to ward her off while falling further back.
In a spray of splinters, the previously pinned chain whipped around Natsumi to defend against the attack. The tough metal was barely scratched by the enchanted blade but it was enough for me to deter her from following after me for a second.
The two of us eyed each other warily. Neither one willing to make a move just yet.
Natsumi was the first to break the silence.
"I just cannot seem to make sense of you." she said. "You have excellent combat skills and body control. In fact I think you would be a match for a captain in some places. Yet at the same time, -" she vanished with a shunpo.
I glanced up to see her hanging midair chanting under her breath. Too far away to hear what she was saying, the first hint of what she was doing was when fist sized balls of fire started raining down in front of me.
I blanched at the sheer amount of fire raining down and turned to escape with a quick hast- Natsumi had shifted the fire directly in front of where I was facing. I turned in the opposite direction, only for the fire to rain down there too.
Then I was out of time and the majority of the fire swept over me and… didn't really hurt? Hundreds of the tiny balls of fire hit me, but they felt like firecrackers. Sure they stung a bit but even thousands of these wouldn't do much more than maybe give me a light burn.
Natsumi appeared behind me with another Shunpo, but this time I reacted faster and she was forced to block my rapier. The heavy blow lifted the smaller woman off her feet and threw her skidding back over the grassy clearing.
"- your movement skills are far below par." Natsumi continued, as if the whole exchange never happened. "It's obvious you don't use Hohō. Some kind of derivative. Yet the Shunpo equivalent is inferior. You can only move forward with that technique, can't you?" It didn't seem like my input was needed since she continued almost immediately anyway. "Thought as much. Then I will just need to disable a leg now and your defeat is certain."
"You think it will be that easy?" I asked. "Even if you can move faster, I think I'm keeping up alright."
Natsumi's eyes widened as a line of blood burst from a straight cut going from shoulder to shoulder across her chest. It was clear she had no idea how I did it, and I wasn't going to tell her.
'Still, glad the wind-cutter enchantment on the rapier worked. Would have been awkward if I messed up the timing there.'
Other thoughts raced through my mind as well. Natsumi was far more mobile than I was with just the basic shunpo technique. She was able to bleed me slowly with hit-and-run tactics and if I didn't change something soon I might not be able to get away even if I beat her.
I needed a quick way to take her down without getting myself killed so I either needed to cripple her own mobility or find a way to knock her uncon-, 'that could work'.
The rapier burst into light and my hand went behind my back as I tried to get everything in place with one hand. It was doable, but difficult. I would need a sec before everything was ready.
Best way to buy time? Get the enemy talking.
Good thing that was pretty easy here.
"Nothing to say to that Natsumi? Why the sudden silent treatment?"
She scowled at me, "I don't suppose you've noticed, Ryoka. You are more injured than I am. Even if you are stronger with a blade, all I need to do is wait and eventually you will fall. How well do you think you can defend with an arm in that condition?"
Just a little more…
"I think I'll be fine. You're also feeling the strain, aren't you? That last Kido was impressive, but it had no force behind it. You probably can't repeat it if you had to either. I think if it comes down to stamina I'm better off than you."
"That may be the case Ryoka, but I merely need to hinder you and signal for reinforcements. You are required to win our fight. I can settle for a draw if need be."
Finished.
"I don't think I need to win. Honestly I'm just going to run away the first chance I get."
"And that's why you need to be a little less mobile." She replied before kicking off the ground and charging towards me. I wanted to fall back and give myself more time to work with but I felt something coil around my leg and realized Natsumi was buying time as well.
Too bad for her my plan worked just fine even if I couldn't move.
I pulled one of my last spell pistols and fired. The soul reaper must have been expecting the move since she ducked lower allowing the golden beam to pass harmlessly over her head. The pistol was useless now, the matrix would have overheated and warped from the mana flowing through it, but Natsumi wouldn't know that. I adjusted my aim like I was going to take a second shot, and felt her weapon unwrap form my leg and smack into my wrist forcing my arm off to the side.
I let it and felt the spell pistol fly out of my hand into the surrounding woods. Natsumi was now too close to avoid. Instead of trying to retreat, I projected a shortsword and using my right hand brought it straight down in a vertical chop.
Natsumi automatically responded to the incoming attack by sweeping her sickle upwards, easily tearing the blade from my still nerveless fingers. By the way her eyes widened she also realised her mistake but was unable to do anything about being baited as my left hand slammed into her torso.
'I win.'
Natsumi was sent tumbling off in one direction. I sighed in relief as everything worked out, only to collapse when my right leg suddenly gave out. Dammit, Natsumi got another hit in even with the feint.
"He he he"
The sound of laughter snapped my attention back to the Soul Reaper. Natsumi had gotten back to her feet, clutching her right side. With a sharp jerk she pulled something out of her torso and held it up to her face.
"A punch dagger?" Natsumi asked. "You tricked me into thinking you regained the use of your arm and the best you could do with that opening was a punch dagger?" She shook her head. "No matter, with your leg in that condition you can no longer escape before someone else shows up. I don't even need to fight you anymore, simply watching from the sur- huh?"
Natsumi took a shaky step forward and immediately collapsed to her hands and knees. All strength fleeing from her.
"What's wrong Natsumi?" I smirked "Feeling a bit weak?"
"W-what did y-you do?" She was glaring at me but considering she looked like a gentle wind would knock her over at this point really lessened the impact.
"Hollow dagger filled with this." I replied, holding up a near empty vial of green liquid. "Swiped some off a squad four member and figured out some uses for it. It was an interesting conversation."
The vial was something I swiped off Hanataro while we were treating Ichigo after his duel with Renji. I vaguely remembered it being something that acted as a fast-acting tranquilizer for people with low Reiatsu. When I asked him more about he told me it eventually worked for stronger people but you would need a huge amount to get past the natural barrier anyone with high Reiatsu had. Even then it tended to just reduce body control not actually knock the person out.
I pointed out that you could just inject it or coat a weapon with it to get past that if need be, but apparently the liquid evaporated rapidly outside of the sealed containers they were stored in and apparently poison was not something Soul Reapers used outside of Zanpakuto abilities.
That I was able to actually inject enough to make a difference was due to a much larger amount of luck than I would have liked, but it had worked.
Natsumi's face was a picture of shock. "Shinten? H-how did you-"
"-stop it from evaporating while in the dagger?" I interrupted, "Easy, while we both were talking I was filling the blade. It wasn't out of the container for more than a few seconds. You were just unlucky."
"D-damn, guess it's a draw then. I can't continue, and you aren't going anywhere on that leg." Natsumi complained. "So now what."
"Now I heal up and get on with my day." I scoffed. I limped to the closest tree I could and sat down leaning my back on the trunk. Almost immediately after that a yellow circle appeared in my left hand as I began to heal the various wounds I had.
"You k-know Kaidō. O-of course you know Kaidō. Dammit." Natsumi said bitterly. Then she slumped to her side, unconscious I assume.
Some time later, I had patched myself up enough I was confident I could make it to the cave Yoruichi had gone without being completely helpless or collapsing on the way. I was also nice enough to fix Natsumi up so she wouldn't bleed out in the forest. Now I was almost at my destination and was really looking forward to a nap.
I was making my way down a stupidly long ladder when my arm gave out again. While I had managed to restore some feeling to it, I definitely was not fully healed and that was ignoring the several other injuries I had.
Luckily I was near the bottom of the ladder when I fell off, maybe only a few feet, so I wasn't further hurt by the fall.
I was also content just to lay in a heap on the ground.
Eventually two feet entered my vision and I heard Yoruichi's voice.