>>3088833
“How disappointing,” you spit towards the corpse before sheathing your sword. “Seriously, to make us come all the way down here and all...”

“... that was quite rude,” an impossible voice chides you, forcing you to raise your sword and turn to face the speaker.

It's Aizen, his face still in the process of regenerating with a strange purple light. So this is how he's doing it...

“As I was saying,” he continues as his face slowly repairs itself, like watching a candle melt in reverse until the face of a man stares back at you. “The zanpakutō in my hands is nothing more than a tool created by the Royal Special Task Force, to constrain shinigami from reaching their full potential. It is a hobble, even if you speak of it as an asset.”

“Poor dumb bastard,” you hiss. “That thing's obviously eating away at your mind... or, what little mind you ever had.”

“For a supposedly brilliant healer your own intellectual ability is rather lacking,” Aizen shoots back. “I know what you exist for.”

>I don't follow you (lie).
>I... REALLY don't understand. Are you high or something?
>What is it you put in yourself, Aizen?
>Switch out
>Other?

>>3088839
>>What is it you put in yourself, Aizen?

>>3088839
>I don't follow you (lie).

>>3088839
>>I don't follow you (lie).
>>I... REALLY don't understand. Are you high or something?

>>3088839
>>What is it you put in yourself, Aizen?

>>3088839
>>What is it you put in yourself, Aizen?

>>3088839
>What is it you put in yourself, Aizen?

>going with pressing Aizen for answers, will call for a roll later when I actually have time to sit down and write

>3d10, best of three

Rolled 2, 5, 2 = 9 (3d10)

>>3090489

Rolled 6, 10, 8 = 24 (3d10)

>>3090489

Rolled 9, 8, 1 = 18 (3d10)

>>3090489

Rolled 8, 10, 6 = 24 (3d10)

>>3090489

>>3090328
“What've you done to yourself, you bastard?” you demand of Aizen. “You shouldn't be this capable. Keeping up with me for a bit I could see, but regenerating like that? Nah, that's not something I can just write off.”

“If I told you it would spoil the surprise,” Aizen replies, bringing his sword down against your own with a loud clash of metal on metal. “And that would take all the fun out of it.”

You push against his blade with a shunpō that places you behind him, where he manages to parry your sword. Another shunpō places you to his weak side, and you cross blades with him again as he thrusts with the point of his sword and pushes the swing upwards and over his head. But when he brings down that blade you're already gone, having taken a step backwards to get out of the way.

This game between the two of you lasts entirely longer than you thought possible, before finally you manage to slice two of Aizen's fingers off with a well-placed counterswing. But that doesn't seem to accomplish much, since he just grows them back almost immediately.

“I suppose I can offer you a hint,” Aizen muses as he slices your ear with a near-miss. “It's the Hōgyoku.”

“That's supposed to be a hint?” you demand, your sword clanging off Aizen's zanpakutō. “Didn't you just give it away?”

“Ah, but the surprise is what the Hōgyoku can do,” Aizen replies. “Not even Urahara Kisuke knows the truth.”

“That the Hōgyoku is a ball of coagulated shinreiryōku?” you ask.

Aizen narrows his eyes. “At this point who doesn't know that much?”

“Okay then, so what are you saying?”

“That the Hōgyoku has its own will,” Aizen declares. “And that it can be bent into the service of one whose own will and power are sufficient.”

“That is what I have done.”

>You're insane. Talking to a literal ROCK.
>Are you sure this rock of yours is the one serving you?
>You think you can beat us with your unearned power?
>Other?

>>3090533
>Are you sure this rock of yours is the one serving you?

>>3090533
>>Are you sure this rock of yours is the one serving you?

>>3090533
>>Are you sure this rock of yours is the one serving you?
>>You think you can beat us with your unearned power?

>>3090533
>Are you sure this rock of yours is the one serving you?
>Cause the way it looks to me, is that it's just letting you think your in-charge, while it alters your body and mind like a piece of clay to fulfill it's own goals.

>>3090533
>your sword is crying because you’ve become plot rock’s personal whore. you’re so high on shinreiryoku that you’ve actually become weak

>>3090533
>>Are you sure this rock of yours is the one serving you?
>>3090576
I really like this line.

>>3090533
“You moron,” you grumble.

“Pardon me?”

You glare at Aizen as you clarify. “You really think that rock of yours is working for you?”

“That was what I said,” Aizen declares. “Yes. Good to know that you were listening.”

“Remind me, which one of us can still use their zanpakutō?” you challenge him. “Yours is literally screaming at you. That should be a real sign to you.”

“Of what?” Aizen replies calmly. “Of the Hōgyoku freeing me from the shackles placed on me by the Royal Special Task Force? Of helping me transcend the current system of defining 'shinigami' and 'hollows'?”

“He's insane,” Shutara sighs dramatically as Ōetsu plugs his ears with his fingers, as if trying in vain to keep the sounds of Kyōka Suigetsu's apparent distress at bay. “Committed, but insane.”

“Why don't you just get this over with?” the Monk quizzes you.

“Funny,” Aizen muses aloud. “I was just thinking something similar.”

>3d10, best of three

Rolled 9, 3, 7, 6 = 25 (4d10)

>>3090533
>QM roll

Rolled 1, 8, 9 = 18 (3d10)

>>3092218

Rolled 4, 9, 4 = 17 (3d10)

>>3092219

Rolled 2, 7, 5 = 14 (3d10)

>>3092218

>>3092218
You begin to realize in a moment that Aizen is up to something, a brief flutter in his reiatsu. Then you sense a larger change. There's a pulse of violet reiatsu to accompany the feeling as well.

“I can't hear Kyōka Suigetsu anymore,” you hear Ōetsu declare.

You're not sure what that actually means, but you get the impression that you won't have to wait long to find out. In fact, you're not inclined to wait at all.

In an instant you step forward towards Aizen, who raises his sword to meet yours with a confident grin.

“What have you done this time?” you demand.

“What I have been trying to do for a while now,” he replies with that same confidence. “You had a point about Kyōka Suigetsu of course.”

A sharp, sudden pain draws your eyes down to your left shoulder, where a sword now protrudes. You stare back at Aizen, seeing that his expression hasn't changed. Nor has he moved so much as a single muscle, you can't even really tell if he's breathed since he spoke. Almost like...

“... a static image,” you realize.

“Exactly,” Aizen's voice confirms, coming from behind you now.

“So that's why Ōetsu can't hear your zanpakutō anymore,” you grunt, pulling yourself away from the sword and turning to face Aizen where he now stands. “What, have you let that rock eat your zanpakutō now too?”

“An inelegant way of putting it, but yes,” Aizen confirms. “That is not an inaccurate summary. The Hōgyoku has now taken control of the abilities of mine which were once subjected to the whims of Kyōka Suigetsu.”

“You traded an imagined 'master' for a true one,” you grumble, taking a moment to use your own hotspring waters to heal the injury to your shoulder.

>Shut your eyes, focus on your reiatsu sensing to fight Aizen.
>Allow Aizen to strike you, then counterattack.
>Switch out for someone else.
>Other?

>>3093655
>>Shut your eyes, focus on your reiatsu sensing to fight Aizen.

>>3093655
>Shut your eyes, focus on your reiatsu sensing to fight Aizen.

>>3093655
>Shut your eyes, focus on your reiatsu sensing to fight Aizen.

>>3093655
>>Shut your eyes, focus on your reiatsu sensing to fight Aizen.

>>3093655
You close your eyes, knowing that fighting while relying on nothing else but your reiatsu sensing abilities to fight will be the only way that you can counteract the effects of Aizen's new powers... what once would have been Kyōka Suigetsu. But you don't know anymore whether Kyōka Suigetsu even exists anymore.

“How fascinating,” you hear Aizen's voice in front of you. “You believe that trick will work? Let me share something with you. The more heavily trained and experienced a warrior is, the more they instinctively rely on their senses.”

“It took a hundred years of specific training for Shihōin Yoruichi and Kusajshi Riku to do what you are attempting.”

>3d10, best of three

Rolled 5, 10, 6 = 21 (3d10)

>>3095506

Rolled 8, 3, 4 = 15 (3d10)

>>3095506
Here comes the fail!

Rolled 3, 3, 5 = 11 (3d10)

>>3095506

Rolled 3, 5, 5 = 13 (3d10)

>>3095506
And they aren't me.

>>3095506
“Behind you!” you hear the Monk bark loudly. You swing your blade almost entirely as an instinctive response, only to find a blade biting into your shoulder.

Rolling with the blow slightly to stay below the edge of Aizen's sword preserves your arm, this time at least, and you manage to sidestep away from your unseen assailant.

“You responded quickly,” Aizen muses. “Vision is not the only sense that I can influence, of course. While you have taken the appropriate first step and removed one sense from my arsenal, perhaps the most important one, I still have ways of influencing you.”

“I'm getting real tired of your shit, Aizen,” you grumble. “Quit your babbling.”

“Interesting,” Aizen continues, his voice now directly behind you. Focusing on his reiatsu reveals this as a trick. “Since when were you under the impression that I was actually speaking?”

Aizen's reiatsu moves and spikes briefly, but in the direction of your compatriots. It takes an instant for you to cross that distance and interpose yourself between his blade and Shutara's neck with a clashing of steel.

You can sense Shutara moving away by her reiatsu, but hear nothing from her. Aizen must be preventing you from hearing her voice... instead you can feel the sensation of your hairs standing on end. But is that just Aizen making you feel that sensation, or is it actually serving you still? You can smell blood, but is that your own or is Aizen simply making you imagine it?

While you're definitely faring better than one might expect given your handicap, you're still making very little headway... and you've yet to figure out a means of effectively counterattacking against Aizen.

>Try letting him hit you, then countering. That is the easiest way to ensure he can't parry.
>Use kidō to raise a barrier trapping him near you, then go to town on him once his movement is restricted.
>Tap out for another member of the Royal Special Task Force who may have an answer. They'll be able to sense your reiatsu... you assume.
>Other?

>>3095584
>Try letting him hit you, then countering. That is the easiest way to ensure he can't parry.

>>3095584
>tank the hits, when he goes for a stab or any attack, go for the blade instead of Aizen, see if you can pull him into a grapple and grab his sword

>>3095584
>>Try letting him hit you, then countering. That is the easiest way to ensure he can't parry.

>>3095584
>>Try letting him hit you, then countering. That is the easiest way to ensure he can't parry.

>>3095584
>>Try letting him hit you, then countering. That is the easiest way to ensure he can't parry.
The Kenpachi-approved strategy!

>3d10, best of three
>DC 21, crit 25

Rolled 4, 9, 8 = 21 (3d10)

>>3095645

Rolled 4, 3, 7 = 14 (3d10)

>>3095645

Rolled 7, 5, 8 = 20 (3d10)

>>3095645
Welp time to die~!

you know it’s pure bullshit when fighting Aizen feels like choosing how you will die

Rolled 6, 8, 7 = 21 (3d10)

>>3095645

>>3095645
You're barely managing to stay alive right now, but really that's how you define victory, right? At the end one man's alive and the other is dead, and the one that's still alive is the winner. So in a sense all you really have to do is not die long enough to find a way to kill Aizen outright.

And of course that's where you get a risky idea. But it may be your one shot at landing a decisive blow on this bastard now that his increases in power have begun to run away from you like this. You can only hope it ends up hurting him more than it does you.

The next time you feel a spike of reiatsu from Aizen you raise your sword to defend from what you assume will be the likely attack of choice, and then take a lunging step towards him that ends in a powerful flat thrust that completely misses his body. You can sense him moving to your side, where the spine of your zanpakutō leaves an obvious blind spot, and instead of moving to defend yourself as you normally would you lean further into the attack to open an invitation.

It's an opening Aizen seizes upon immediately.

You feel his sword dig into your side as you turn your waist at the last second, and when you feel the tip emerge from your back you reach down with your left hand and grab at what you hope is Aizen's wrist. You miss and end up grasping the base of his blade instead, but that will work too.

“You...” he grumbles as you bring your sword down through his wrist, severing his hand. “Are you happy now? You've wounded me.”

“Could have gone better,” you retort. “Coulda cut out your damn tongue instead.”

“Oh, but where would the fun in that be?”

“Gettin' some peace and quiet,” you contend. “That'd be great.”

“Well, sorry to disappoint,” Aizen apologizes. “But you got my wrist.”

You can tell he's not sorry at all.

>Keep this up for as long as you can.
>Try to signal for backup?
>Try and signal to swap out.
>Other?

>>3095766
>Try and signal to swap out.

>>3095766
>>Try and signal to swap out.
let's see how long he can keep this up.

>>3095789
Are we still in arms length of Aizen? Or did he back off after we cut off the hand holding the sword we grabbed?

>>3095766
>>Try and signal to swap out.

>>3095766
>Try and signal to swap out

>>3095766
>Swap out
>other: Run away with his sword.

>3d10, best of three
>this will set the DC for the next character to take over

Rolled 6, 1, 1 = 8 (3d10)

>>3095860
>>3d10, best of three
does that mean the lowest, or the highest in this case?

Rolled 6, 1, 10 = 17 (3d10)

>>3095860

Rolled 9, 1, 2 = 12 (3d10)

>>3095860

Rolled 7, 4, 3, 8 = 22 (4d10)

>>3095860
>qm rolling

>>3095868
My intention was basically that certain results would reduce the DC for the next character to hit, which a 17 doesn't do ALL that much.

It's a bit squidgy.

>>3095894
Unfortunately, there's only one way that you can reliably signal that you want to switch out with someone else, given that there's currently someone interfering with your ability to communicate with them. It needs to be something that will be clear, and that they'll understand is not the effect of Aizen trying to goad them into acting in a way that will leave them vulnerable.

And that one clear signal would be to suppress your reiatsu. Essentially, any pronounced drop in the one thing about your state they can reliably sense will be the only way to signal that they should step in. This will make them either think that you have been killed or at least stricken.

So that's precisely what you do.

You suppress your reiatsu for a second, and feel Aizen's sword slice into you. The wound isn't unexpected of course, you did after all give him an opening. But it's not as bad as it could have been, and you can sense that someone behind you has taken the hint.

>Shutara
>Ōetsu
>Kirio

>>3095937
>>Ōetsu
i get the feeling Oetsu would be fucking pissed after suigetsu was silenced

>>3095937
>>Ōetsu
I want an inside look at his rage and sorrow over what happened to suigetsu and Aizen's treatment of her.

>>3095937
>>Ōetsu

>>3095937
>Shutara

>>3095937
You are Ōetsu Nimaiya, and you've got something special in store for Aizen Sōsuke after what he did to Kyōka Suigetsu. While you've never been a fan of zanpakutō which influence the mind, what he's done is something that cannot be forgiven. You've seen all sorts of relationships develop between shinigami and their blades, and while there are those who treat their companions as mere tools it's a wholly new experience to see an experienced shinigami not only abandon their zanpakutō, which they know to be a part of themselves, but do... this.

It's a total betrayal, a savage rejection of a part of himself that you know better than he only ever had his interests at heart.

“My turn,” you declare. You were sure to take this with you, having had Mera locate it for you and hand it to you. This is the only sword that you would knowingly keep out of its sheath, rested over your shoulder. Because really, it's not even a sword per se.

“I was wondering when the manufacturer of the Asauchi, and in turn my own former zanpakutō, would choose to step in,” Aizen muses in a cruel tone. He knows what he did had to have upset you. “And here you are. Do you wish to avenge your creation, your subordinate?”

“That is fine.”

“I know you may not care too much to learn new names at this point,” you shoot back, “knowing how you feel about zanpakutō. But this is a name you might wanna remember: Sayafushi.”

“Scabbard-cutter?” Aizen replies. “A boast, or something else?”

“Lucky you,” you reply. “You'll get to find out.”

>Attack head-on. You may take some damage, but a hit from Sayafushi might prove lethal.
>Draw in an attack. Slashing at his limbs will rapidly lead to a fatal blow.
>Try to use kidō to pin him in place so you can finish him with Sayafushi.
>Other?

>>3096050
>Draw in an attack. Slashing at his limbs will rapidly lead to a fatal blow.

>>3096050
>Attack head-on. You may take some damage, but a hit from Sayafushi might prove lethal.

>>3096050
>>Attack head-on. You may take some damage, but a hit from Sayafushi might prove lethal
Don't want to repeat strategies, Aizen would find that... boring.

>>3096050
>>Attack head-on. You may take some damage, but a hit from Sayafushi might prove lethal.

>>3096050
>>Attack head-on. You may take some damage, but a hit from Sayafushi might prove lethal.

>3d10, best of three
>dc18, crit 26

Rolled 4, 10, 9 = 23 (3d10)

>>3096149
Fail train!

Rolled 4, 7, 10 = 21 (3d10)

>>3096149
Maximum over-cutting

Rolled 9, 3, 10 = 22 (3d10)

>>3096149
COME ON!

Rolled 6, 6, 10 = 22 (3d10)

>>3096149

>>3096149
You decide that it's time to attack, because while you may take some wounds in exchange you only need to land one strike for it to cause serious injury or even death. That's how Sayafushi works.

So you run down Aizen, judging solely based on where his reiatsu is, and swing Sayafushi in a wide, powerful arc. You actually want him to try and parry it. But when he doesn't you suspect something is up.

At first you suspect that Sayfushi itself is to blame, since a blade that cuts so cleanly might not give you any real indication that you've just cut through something. Then the blow to the back of your head suggests he may have suspected that your sword might have that problem, and used the powers he took from Kyōka Suigetsu to confuse the one sense you could use to tell whether or not you hit him: touch.

It's kind of hard to tell anymore.

“Gotcha!” you declare as you swing the blade through the spot where Aizen should be after landing a hit, and a brief fluctuation in his reiatsu suggests that this time you hit him.

Still no sound, no tactical feedback, nothing of that sort. So that fluctuation after you've landed a strike is probably going to be the only way you can tell that Sayafushi found its mark.

“What a pain in the ass,” you grumble. “Fightin' like this, it's hard to tell that anythin's happening at all!”

“You could always try striking up a conversation,” Aizen retorts.

You can tell that the sound came from somewhere other than where you can sense his reiatsu... interesting. So this is what Kirinji was facing.

>Try to release as much reiatsu as recklessly as possible, sense the movement of that reiatsu.
>This is getting absurd. Pin this bastard down so the Monk can have his way with him.
>Surely Shutara or Kirio can do something to help out? Come on, this is goin' the same way as Kirinji's fight!
>Other?

>>3096254
>>Try to release as much reiatsu as recklessly as possible, sense the movement of that reiatsu
Fuck it, damn the torpedoes!

>>3096254
>>Surely Shutara or Kirio can do something to help out? Come on, this is goin' the same way as Kirinji's fight!

>>3096254
>>Try to release as much reiatsu as recklessly as possible, sense the movement of that reiatsu.

>>3096254
>This is getting absurd. Pin this bastard down so the Monk can have his way with him.

>>3096254
>>Try to release as much reiatsu as recklessly as possible, sense the movement of that reiatsu.

>>3096254
>This is getting absurd. Pin this bastard down so the Monk can have his way with him.

>3d10, best of three
>dc18, crit 23

Rolled 3, 6, 6 = 15 (3d10)

>>3096364

Rolled 9, 3, 5 = 17 (3d10)

>>3096364

Rolled 3, 5, 2 = 10 (3d10)

>>3096364

wow.
I know this is supposed to be the final boss and all that. but jeeze.

Rolled 3, 8, 2 = 13 (3d10)

>>3096364

>>3096364
You decide to take one last stab at using a new trick to fight against Aizen, releasing a massive amount of reiatsu in order to use movements of that to track his passage, like looking for a 'wake' of sorts. Sensing such disturbances might even let you know when his sword is about to find its mark.

“That will not work against me,” Aizen declares confidently. “Not if your reiatsu-sensing ability is worse than that which Kusajishi Riku and Shihōin Yoruichi trained to achieve.”

All around you can sense a mass of reiatsu, like a kidō building up. You slash through it, thinking it must be Kurohitsugi. That would after all be what you would use in Aizen's place. But that's not what he used at all.

Several distinct blasts hit you from all sides, only one having been split by Sayafushi, and you fall to the ground.

Damn it all.

It's hard to believe that Aizen would go so far as this, to throw away everything in pursuit of whatever he thinks this 'Hōgyoku' is promising him.

But for the time being, it seems like avenging Kyōka Suigetsu is going to have to fall to someone else.

You wonder if that's the end of her role in this story...

>>3096438
And I need to grab some rest now, thanks for stopping by and I look forward to hopefully keeping this up and getting back into the swing of a 'normal' schedule.

There'll be Claymore tomorrow, and probably continued updates through the weekdays, so keep an eye on Twitter and see you then!

>>3096438
You are Shutara Senjumaru, and your skills are with fabric and needles, not with swordsmanship.

But then again, both Kirinji and Ōetsu are highly proficient swordsmen, and both of them have now fallen under Aizen Sōsuke's blade. So perhaps the fact that you are not what you would consider a swordsman, but rather an artist will help you to fare better than they.

There are a few ways that you can think of to proceed. The first of these is to try and set up a loose weave of threads that will allow you to track Aizen's true position, like a spider in her web. The fact that you are not a swordsman again plays to your advantage in this endeavor, as your senses and reactions are not as finely honed as the other members of the Royal Special Task Force.

Then you have the possibility that you could reverse the situation entirely, by using fabrics to fool Aizen's senses the same way he has been toying with your own. You must admit, that idea has a certain appeal to it.

You could also try and use fabric to regain use of your eyes. Aizen cannot make your eyes see things when they are closed, or at least he has shown no ability to do so yet. So if you could somehow figure a way to see without relying on light, that would work to your advantage.

Or you could simply use your needlework to make his clothing, however hideous it must now appear, into a lethal thing. Punish his complete lack of taste by killing him with the very object of his tastelessness.

>Lay out a web to serve as the groundwork over the long term.
>Use your fabrics to create an illusion, give Aizen a taste of his own medicine.
>Fashion should be daring, try to create a special blindfold to fight in.
>Just make his clothing kill him already, see how he responds to it.

>>3102007
>Lay out a web to serve as the groundwork over the long term.

>>3102007
>Lay out a web to serve as the groundwork over the long term.

>>3102007
>>Lay out a web to serve as the groundwork over the long term.
i assume that is a choice that will be effective after multiple actions?

>>3102007
>>Use your fabrics to create an illusion, give Aizen a taste of his own medicine.

>>3102007
>>Lay out a web to serve as the groundwork over the long term.

>>3102007
>Use your fabrics to create an illusion, give Aizen a taste of his own medicine.

>3d10, best of three

Rolled 7, 7, 2 = 16 (3d10)

>>3104065

Rolled 2, 3, 8 = 13 (3d10)

>>3104065

Rolled 4, 4, 5 = 13 (3d10)

>>3104065

Yikes.
>writing

>>3104089
You decide to opt for the plan that you think has the best chance of yielding long-term results, which is to lay out a web of fine gossamer threads too fine to see, but the movement of which will give you precise clues as to Aizen's location and movements. Which is of course the largest impediment in terms of fighting him off.

So you set about propelling the threads all over the immediate area, draping them over rooftops and attaching them to walls and the ground wherever you can do so without drawing Aizen's attention to them. And after a few moments, you decide that you have a good start.

“So, I take it from your posture that you are ready to step forward now?” Aizen asks you.

“Ready as I'll ever be,” you shrug. “I think tradition is that the man should lead?”

“If you insist.”

In an instant Aizen moves, and you can tell when he does so... because he snaps and destroys the threads as he moves. But you do know based on how he dismantled your work where his attack will come from.

“Well hello there, handsome,” you taunt him as you raise your needle to parry his sword, before swinging it at him like a short staff. You feel a little shift in his reiatsu... he wasn't expecting that to work, was he?

But in skittering away like a small frightened animal he does even more damage to your network of threads, which the prosthetic hands around your back and shoulders work feverishly to replace. You try however to pass it off as vaguely Hindu-esque mystic motions, like a statue of a fierce deity given life and a normal human skin tone.

But just as quickly as you re-spin your web Aizen's blundering and thrashing ruins it again, though it continues to do an admirable job in alerting you to his movements you're not making as much headway as you had hoped thanks to the temporary nature of your solution.

>Try to weave yourself a mask of sorts, something perhaps that will react to reiatsu and not be quite so easy for Aizen to damage.
>Make a few alterations to Aizen's clothing next time he gets too close, use that to get your proverbial and literal hooks in him.
>There's still time to try setting up an elaborate ruse using cloth panels, turn Aizen's penchant for illusions against him.
>Other?

>>3104130
>Try to weave yourself a mask of sorts, something perhaps that will react to reiatsu and not be quite so easy for Aizen to damage.

>>3104130
>>Try to weave yourself a mask of sorts, something perhaps that will react to reiatsu and not be quite so easy for Aizen to damage.

>>3104130
>Make a few alterations to Aizen's clothing next time he gets too close, use that to get your proverbial and literal hooks in him.

>>3104130
>Try to weave yourself a mask of sorts, something perhaps that will react to reiatsu and not be quite so easy for Aizen to damage.

>>3104130
>>Make a few alterations to Aizen's clothing next time he gets too close, use that to get your proverbial and literal hooks in him.

>>3104130
>There's still time to try setting up an elaborate ruse using cloth panels, turn Aizen's penchant for illusions against him.

>>3104130
>>Try to weave yourself a mask of sorts, something perhaps that will react to reiatsu and not be quite so easy for Aizen to damage.

>>3104130
dice+3d10, best of three
DC on this one is 19, critical is 25
For anyone else this would be literally impossible.

Rolled 4, 5, 9 = 18 (3d10)

>>3106259
king, i’ll tell you this, dice is utterly bullshit. we’ll fail this i tell you.

Rolled 10, 1, 9 = 20 (3d10)

>>3106259

Rolled 7, 2, 3 = 12 (3d10)

>>3106259

Rolled 8, 3, 2 = 13 (3d10)

>>3106259

Rolled 4, 2, 3 = 9 (3d10)

>>3106259

File: 764867546585.gif (1.99 MB, 400x253)

1.99 MB GIF

>>3106269

>>3106259
You decide that your plan was not necessarily a bad one, it just wasn't a tactic that was going to work. Stringing up something so fragile would only ever give you temporary ability to track Aizen's movements due to how vulnerable they are to even accidental damage. So your new plan is to craft a different solution to the same problem.

This time you have your hands weave the threads in a much tighter pattern, keeping them close to your head. Eventually, even despite several clashes with Aizen, you manage to form them in a very specific weave: one that will shift and react ever so slightly in response to a specific external stimulus, similar to how you would normally weave a cloth that would be meant to fool an observer into thinking they were seeing movement where in fact it is only the character of that fabric which is changing.

This fabric is intended to produce a pinprick sensation in the direction that Aizen's body is currently positioned, which will give you that much more information. It will even help you get a sense of how his body is oriented, though it's a rush job. Had you taken a little more time to try out slight variances in the production process, you might have been able to refine the end result to the point that you would be able to essentially replicate your sight.

“Is it wise to lose focus like that?”

You're forced to use your new invention to save your life as you sidestep Aizen's swing.

“Sorry,” you apologize facetiously. “I was simply absorbed in my work.”

“More of your silly threads?” Aizen taunts you, sending a prickling sensation across the side of your head as he moves. You raise your needle to block his next attack.

“More of your silly, empty sword?” you taunt in return before spinning the oversized needle in your hand like a baton so that you can thrust with its point. Unfortunately Aizen has moved already and evades your thrust, but even so you like to think he got the point.

“What exactly have you done?” Aizen demands. “Your movements seem much more... informed.”

“All of us in the Royal Special Task Force have talents we call our own,” you explain cannily. “All of which are different. But there is one talent we all share... a talent for making our talents applicable.”

>Try to hit him with a kidō spell.
>Use your free hands to try and set a thread and needle based trap.
>Use your free hands to try and physically entangle Aizen with stronger threads.
>Other?

>>3106472
>Use your free hands to try and set a thread and needle based trap.

>>3106472
>>Try to hit him with a kidō spell.

>>3106472
>>Use your free hands to try and set a thread and needle based trap.

>>3106472
>sew a trap

>>3106472
>>>Use your free hands to try and set a thread and needle based trap.

Last chance for votes, Imma update in about an hour.

>>3106472
>3d10, best of three
>DC 17, crit 23

Rolled 8, 9, 6 = 23 (3d10)

>>3108251

Rolled 6, 8, 8 = 22 (3d10)

>>3108251

Rolled 8, 9, 8 = 25 (3d10)

>>3108251

>>3108259
>>3108256
This just in: aizen gets his ass kicked by a sewing maid

>>3108251
You set to work repeating your previous strategy, though with a different intent. Even as you keep Aizen off you with your large needle your free hands work their art, weaving thicker strands about the battlefield. Each of these strands is special, as Aizen will see in just a few seconds.

“I tire of this,” Aizen grumbles as he slashes through one more thread, clearly believing himself to have the advantage. “I had been led to believe the Royal Special Task Force were all exceptional individuals. All I have seen thus far is an exceptional disappointment.”

“You asked for it, then,” you smirk. “Just remember that.”

Suddenly the remaining strands pull taut, catching Aizen around his limbs and neck like he's accidentally fallen through a grand piano. He stops in place, caught there for the moment, straining against the trap to test the limits of its strength.

“And what do you suppose this will accomplish?” he muses. “These threads lack the tensile strength to...”

“Stop talking and start listening,” you interrupt him, resting your fingertips lightly on the nearest strand and stepping into the web yourself. Your extra arms do the same, gingerly taking up a half dozen more threads like a spider easing yourself closer towards a helpless fly. “And listen close, because I will only lecture you this once.”

Then your fingers pull at the strands, before releasing them with a rippling chord like a harp being brutalized to the point that its strings snap. And snap your threads do, releasing a cloud of razor-sharp filaments into Aizen's body. They rip him apart where he stands, reducing him to bloody shreds that slump to the ground.

But your work is not over yet.

You step forward to claim this 'Hōgyoku' of his, an almost painful pinpoint in your blindfold's 'vision' set in the middle of Aizen's ruin.

As soon as you grasp it between your fingertips, you can tell that something is off.

“That does not belong to you.”

You feel the pain of having been slashed across the chest, and deeply too.

But what Aizen couldn't have known is that you didn't think for one minute that this attack would have killed him. It was simply to make sure that he couldn't pay attention to you for just a few precious seconds. Just enough time to make one masterpiece of an alteration.

“Enjoy it... while it lasts... Aizen,” you gasp, before collapsing.
>Next update will be Kirio

>>3108317
You are Hikifune Kirio, and you've been sensing the previous three fights.

This isn't good for you. Unlike Shutara you have no way to really sense where Aizen is aside from just the basic trick of reiatsu sensing. But you ARE something of a scientist, perhaps you can work out a decent solution to this 'Aizen problem'.

>Try to use kidō to entrap him. Immobilize him long enough to actually do something worth doing offense-wise.
>Try to use some more unconventional methods against him. Something he would not be expecting.
>Tag team him with the Monk. Going in one at a time hasn't worked so far, why would it suddenly start working now?
>Other?

>>3108397
>Try to use some more unconventional methods against him. Something he would not be expecting.

>>3108397
>>Tag team him with the Monk. Going in one at a time hasn't worked so far, why would it suddenly start working now?

>>3108397
>>Try to use some more unconventional methods against him. Something he would not be expecting.

>>3108397
>3d10, best of three

>>3108397
>>Tag team him with the Monk. Going in one at a time hasn't worked so far, why would it suddenly start working now?

Rolled 8, 7, 9 = 24 (3d10)

>>3108618

Rolled 5, 3, 5 = 13 (3d10)

>>3108618

Rolled 8, 6, 3 = 17 (3d10)

>>3108618

>>3108618
There's an interesting idea that you'd like to try, but it's going to take something of a sacrifice.

You swing your spatula, quite literally blindly, to try and hit Aizen... or at least to give the impression that you're trying to hit him. Really, all you need to do is create a tempting enough opening for him somewhere that you can anticipate the attack. And when that attack comes, you allow his blade to impale you through your hand.

“Oh my,” you grunt in pain, grasping Aizen around his hand. “That hurt quite a bit.”

Then you put your plan in action. “Rikujōkōrō.”

The kidō pins him in place while you take a sidestep away from him, pulling your hand free of the blade. Then you use that hand for what you intended all along. From your fingertips emerge tendrils of living wood, which form a fairly tight set of bars that meet behind him, forming a cage of sorts around Aizen.

The bakudō degrades almost immediately.

“Another entertaining ability,” Aizen muses. “Truly fascinating... though may I observe, you seem somewhat tired.”

“Creating a living thing tends to take the wind out of you a little,” you admit, panting heavily.

“You gave me something else to kill,” Aizen retorts, already preparing to destroy your prison. “Though, if this is born from your own life force then it really is doing no more than delaying the inevitable.”

You can sense that Aizen takes a swing at the wooden cage... only to find that it refuses to break.

You can practically hear him narrowing his eyes. “What is this?”

“The tree of life,” you explain cryptically. “I hope you can appreciate this.”

Then again, you may be talking a big fight but you're not sure how to progress from here.

>Maybe you can stab him with the wood? Though if you fail, then you may have too little energy left to be of any use.
>Hand things off to the monk.
>Wait for Riku and Yoruichi to finish. At this stage it makes sense to involve the two of them.
>Other?

>>3108827
>Hand off to ge monk.

>>3108827
>>Maybe you can stab him with the wood? Though if you fail, then you may have too little energy left to be of any use.

>>3108827
>>Hand things off to the monk.

>>3108827
>>Hand things off to the monk.

>>3108827
>>Hand things off to the monk.

>>3108827
>3d10 for the monk, best of three

Rolled 9, 4, 5 = 18 (3d10)

>>3110297

Rolled 4, 5, 8 = 17 (3d10)

>>3110297

Rolled 6, 3, 7 = 16 (3d10)

>>3110297

>>3110297
You are Hyōsube Ichibē, the Monk who calls the real name. And this is now your fight.

“Please stand aside,” you order the last of your comrades of the Royal Special Task Force left standing. “You have done enough to entrap him. Any more and you would expend the last of your energy.”

“Well, Aizen,” you greet your foe. “I remember when you could barely stand and breathe on your own. You have learned much... including how to be rude.”

With a single sweep you release Ichimonji, then turn and vault into the air. In a torrent of ink you dissolve away the branches created by Hikifune, and manifest a spectral fist that crashes down onto Aizen with incalculable force. The shock of the blow rocks the entire Seireitei to its foundations.

Aizen was definitely flattened by that attack. But you'll see for yourself what effect that actually has on him.

And as it turns out, it amounted to very little.

“Did you really believe that some acidic ink and a giant fist would kill me?” Aizen questions you.

“Did you really believe that you were smarter than me?” you shoot back.

>Ink
>Fist
>Shinreiryōku
>Other?

>>3110376
>>Shinreiryōku
Fight the divine with the divine, because beating Aizen to death won't work, and I'm not sure Ink would either.

>>3110376
>Shinreiryōku

>>3110376
>>Shinreiryōku

>>3110376
>>Ink

>tfw can't wait for Aizen's fuckin rock to try and eat the shinrei

>and it can't because fuckin threadbitch's meddling

>>3110376
>3d10, best of three

Rolled 6, 4, 5 = 15 (3d10)

>>3112513
DICE YOU PICKADILY WHORE

Rolled 7, 4, 9 = 20 (3d10)

>>3112513

Rolled 9, 4, 4 = 17 (3d10)

>>3112513

>>3112513
You decide that the best approach now is to cut the nonsense. Of course you have a technique at your disposal that should bring even gods low.

“You believe yourself to be a god, do you boy?” you bark.

“Like a god perhaps,” Aizen admits calmly. “Though in a sense, I stand above such flawed things as gods.”

“Then we'll see how 'godly' you really are!” you counter, raising your right hand across your chest. “Ura Hadō, Sannodō: Teppūsatsu!”

The chopping motion of your hand creates a powerful dragon's-head shape, which then expels a powerful burst of compression. It isn't the air that is being compressed of course, but the space which contains the air: much like the Kurohitsugi but far more violent in that all its force is directed. And of course, it rips strongest at the trappings of divine power.

The blow hits Aizen straight on, and for the first time it prompts an anguished cry from him so loud that you can clearly tell that it actually hurt.

Aizen is left crushed to a pulp, with the Hōgyoku in his chest left exposed within his ribs. And for the first time so far, it seems that he is struggling to regenerate.
>QM rolled over in Claymore by mistake because he's an idiot

But then something that surprises even you happens.

Aizen somehow manages to stand.

His body begins to regenerate as a new strength floods into his broken form.

“What are you doing?” you demand. “How are you regenerating so quickly even despite having taken an Ura Hadō head on?”

“It seems...” Aizen gasps as his esophagus starts to reform and his lungs reinflate. “... that Gerard Valkyrie has fallen in battle.”

“Good.”

>Demand an explanation. What does he think the death of his last lackey will change?
>Ink him. Ink him right now while you still have a chance.
>Ah. Well then, that leaves only one realistic option... though it won't be pretty.
>Other?

>>3112555
>>Ink him. Ink him right now while you still have a chance.

>>3112555
>ink him now.

>>3112555
>>Ink him. Ink him right now while you still have a chance.

>>3112555
>>Ink him. Ink him right now while you still have a chance.

>>3112555
>startled, the Monk resorts to ink
>3d10, best of three

Rolled 9, 3, 8 = 20 (3d10)

>>3112584
Dice needs to pay up for all the crackbitch moments.

Rolled 8, 10, 6 = 24 (3d10)

>>3112584
COME ON DICE, JUST THIS ONCE!

Rolled 4, 5, 9 = 18 (3d10)

>>3112584

>>3112584
You quickly release a cloud of ink that soaks Aizen, along with everything in the immediate area of Aizen. Now that you think of it however that name no longer seems appropriate.

“How does it feel to have half of your name stripped away?” you inquire. “Ai Sō?”

“You... bastard,” Ai Sō gasps breathlessly, adjusting to his newly decreased powers. “How... what is...”

“Names carry power,” you explain. “To take half of your essence by claiming half your name redefines you as something weaker, something fundamentally incomplete.”

You set to work building up inky barriers around Ai to keep him where he has fallen. At this point he cannot possibly hope to break out on his own...

… that's when she arrives.
>1/2

>>3112620
You are Inari Riku, and you have relocated to see the fallout of the battle between the Royal Special Task Force and Aizen Sosuke.

"He took out three of them?" Yoruichi muses in amazement. "And two of them were ones I kinda liked."

"You have not taken measures to revive them?" you ask the Monk. "What is the meaning of this?"

"If I simply cleaned up their messes so easily," he replies, "they would not learn their lessons."

"What lesson can they learn while they are dead?" you ask quizzically. "You do not make sense sometimes."

"No kidding," Hikifune grumbles.

"Do you need to learn a lesson as well?" the Monk grins maliciously.

"So, task at hand," you interrupt. "Aizen has been restrained?"

"Indeed he has," the Monk nods sternly. "Without your help I might add."

You spare a glance.

>This will not hold. I suspect he will break out on his own shortly.
>Take a chance to speak with the Monk, sort out a few matters of importance.
>Other?

>>3112630
>"I think we can agree that any other matters can wait until this thread is dealt with? Because i don't think this will hold, he will break out on his own shortly."

>>3112630
>>This will not hold. I suspect he will break out on his own shortly.

>>3112630
>Other: "So... what name did you give him?" Then proceed to indirectly verbally bully Ai Sō with wordplay using his new name.
This is top priority.
>Take a chance to speak with the Monk, sort out a few matters of importance.

>>3112630
>Take a chance to speak with the Monk, sort out a few matters of importance.

>>3112630
>>This will not hold. I suspect he will break out on his own shortly.

>>3112630
“This will not hold,” you contend. “Anything else may be dealt with after we deal with Aizen.”
>3d10, best of three

Rolled 6, 6, 7 = 19 (3d10)

>>3112705
And then Dice becomes a crackbitch. Seriously. The dice slut sucks his cock.

Rolled 10, 9, 9 = 28 (3d10)

>>3112705

Rolled 4, 6, 6 = 16 (3d10)

>>3112705

Rolled 4, 8, 6 = 18 (3d10)

>>3112705
rollan
>>3112711
wew

Rolled 2, 8, 8 = 18 (3d10)

>>3112705
Come on Big Numbers baby!

File: do want.png (209 KB, 370x354)

209 KB PNG

>>3112711
>Aizen gets utterly BTFO'd
>mfw pic related.

>>3112718
Oh hey I love the artist this is from.

>>3112711
MVP HERE.

>>3112711
So at a guess, that orb that was Riku's last tail half will be used to turn aizen and his power absorbing plot rock into a mock up of the killing stone that Tamamoe no Mae became when she died, except with less range by far due to being only HALF. Thereby rendering him stuck and harmless as he's constantly killing himself over and over for eternity as the power requires him to be dead to use properly, so the orb tries to enforce that for ultimate killing power, but he needs to be alive to do the things it wants him to do.

File: mayuri.png (148 KB, 1110x277)

148 KB PNG

>>3112711

File: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA(...).jpg (1.11 MB, 1622x1622)

1.11 MB JPG

>>3112742

>>3112711
I applaud your mastery over both timing and the art of dice!

>>3112705
With a single stroke, Aizen slices through the Monk from shoulder to waist... or so he thinks at first.

Instead all that remains there is a strip of cloth from his shihakusho.

Your tails wave in a delicate dance without pattern.

“I disapprove,” you declare, staring Aizen straight in the eyes.

“Of?”

“Just a general statement,” you reply placidly.

“That was abrupt,” Yoruichi comments. “Aizen, you were buried deep in those ink barriers. How did you get out so quickly?”

“Bankai,” Aizen replies. “Or at least, the power that was once my Bankai. I regained its use at the same time that Gerard Valkyrie was killed.”

“Well then it seems that mistakes have been made,” you grumble.

“It was no mistake,” Aizen smirks. “It was all according to my plan.”

“Yes, you may be right,” you admit.

“Well, shall we do this properly?” Aizen asks you. “I am sure that there are many questions you wish to ask.”

“I'm still here you know,” the Monk grumbles.

>I do, actually. Why precisely are you doing all of this?
>None, actually. Anyone else have anything to ask?
>I suspect you have more questions than I do.
>Write-in question

>>3112787
>I suspect you have more questions than I do.

>>3112787
>>None, actually. Anyone else have anything to ask?

>>3112787
>>I suspect you have more questions than I do.

>>3112787
>I suspect you have more questions than I do.

>>3112787
>other: "Yes, we know you're still here Ichibe. You got your time in the spotlight and you did a nice job." Headpat the Monk in a very condescending manner "Now go revive the rest of the guard, Mrs. Inari has words with Mr. Souske"
I really REALLY want this to happen.
>I suspect you have more questions than I do.

>>3112787
>>I suspect you have more questions than I do.

>>3112787
>3d10, best of four

Rolled 9, 7, 6 = 22 (3d10)

>>3112814

Rolled 9, 3, 1 = 13 (3d10)

>>3112814

Rolled 10, 8, 6 = 24 (3d10)

>>3112814
>inb4 sub 20

Rolled 6, 1, 6 = 13 (3d10)

>>3112814

>>3112818
you did good, buddy, you did good

>>3112814
“I have a sneaking suspicion that you actually have more questions than I do,” you shake your head. “So ask away.”

“I do have one question,” Aizen admits.

In the corner of your eye, you see the Monk beginning to slowly backpedal his way away from the scene.

“And that would be?” you ask him.

“It is not a question for you,” Aizen informs you. “Shihōin Yoruichi, when is it that you planned to tell her?”

You can see your wife's eyes narrow. “Tell her what, exactly?”

“About the clans to whom she has grown so close?” Aizen prompts her. “About the crime that founded the lineage of her dear wife?”

A crime, he says? Inari warned you of something like that, before she sent you on your way... that the ambitions of Aizen Sōsuke were bound up with the great houses of the Seireitei. But she was very cryptic, as though she could not share as many details with you as she knew and wished to share.

>Go on, Yoruichi. Answer his question so we can get on with this.
>I see, so something important has been hidden from me all this time?
>I do not care to know. If you have any other questions, Aizen, ask now.
>Other?

>>3112854
>>Go on, Yoruichi. Answer his question so we can get on with this.

>>3112854
>>I do not care to know. If you have any other questions, Aizen, ask now.
Quite frankly, I don't care. And I doubly don't care because Aizen is the one trying to bring it up. We trust Yoruichi, we love her, and we don't really need to have this kind of conversation at the behest of an enemy threatening to destroy all we hold dear.

>>3112854
>I do not care to know. If you have any other questions, Aizen, ask now.
If she wants Riku to know, she will tell Riku when she is ready

>>3112854
>Go on, Yoruichi. Answer his question so we can get on with this.
>Assuming it has something to do with both the soul king and the monk being an asshole.

>>3112854
>>Go on, Yoruichi. Answer his question so we can get on with this.

>>3112854
>Go on, Yoruichi. Answer his question so we can get on with this.

>>3112854
>I do not care to know. If you have any other questions, Aizen, ask now.

>>3112854
"Go ahead and answer him, Yoruichi," you shrug. "One answer cannot change reality."

"No," Yoruichi sighs, "but it can change one's perception."

"Perhaps," you admit. "However the heart is not so easily swayed. Do not worry, I made my decision long ago."

Yoruichi sighs. "Alright, then prepare yourself for a useless history lesson."

>>3112920
And that's where I'm calling it a day for now. Thanks for stopping in, hope you enjoyed the read, and see you all next time!

I'll post on twitter when I know when that will be, but Claymore will be tomorrow.

>>3112920
Is there literally anything anyone could say at this point that would even make us blink?
was it mass genocide? are all the souls getting destroyed and used to make delicious cookies for the monk? is reality a hologram? Is this being recorded? are we getting pranked?

Whatever, fucker.
Go on aizen, drop what you believe counts as a bombshell.

>>3116939
We are bigger than all this now.
Hell, moon sized big even.