Chapter 80: Too Strong
Entering Senbonzakura's inner Shen was greeted by a mesmerizing scene. He found himself staring across an open lake stretching with crystal clear water without a single ripple disrupting its surface. The sun seemed frozen in the sky as its golden glow shone across the lush green plains surrounding the peaceful Lake.
However, the thing that made this beautiful scenery even more serene was the cherry blossoms. With the petals almost glowing, there were more trees than he could count dotted across the land as far as the eye could see. 'Rukia's Zanpakuto Sode no Shirayuki is known for being one of the most beautiful Zanpakuto, but I wouldn't be surprised if Senbonzakura out did it when it came to their inner worlds.
As the cherry blossoms began to fly from their places on the trees filling the air, one of them happened to approach Shen. Floating past his face, Shen's gaze turned towards his cheek as he wiped it with his thumb. 'Beautiful yet deadly.' Despite his durability, the moment he lowered his guard, a single cherry blossom was able to cut through his skin.
It was only after waiting for a few more moments did the wind within the inner world begin to kick up. In a matter of moments, a gust of wind blew by as a group of cherry blossoms gathered at the center of the Lake blocking Shen's vision. "You've arrived as expected." A calm voice fell into Shen's ears as the blossoms that gathered on the Lake began to fly away, revealing someone standing on the Lake's surface.
The small ripples created from him standing there matched the aesthetic of the world, which allowed Shen to recognize who this was instantly. 'The the true Senbonzakura.' A young man wearing a purple kimono along with red armor with golden trims covering his shoulders and upper chest could be seen as his long tied hair flowed behind him.
"I've been preparing myself for your arrival since the moment you tried to break into this place." Looking at Shen with a calm disposition, the Spirit of Senbonzakura continued. "I'll only tell you this once. Leave, or I will remove you by force." Hearing the Spirit of Senbonzakura, Shen tilted his head slightly and replied. "I think we both know that won't be happening."
Raising his head slightly, the Spirit responded. "Very well, then. I won't hold back." Holding his hand out in front of him, the Spirit spoke. "Bankai. Scatter Senbonzakura Kageyoshi." Not underestimating Shen like Zabimaru, the Spirit of Senbonzakura used their Bankai immediately as the inner world began to rumble. The thousands of cherry blossom trees that had even more blossoms began to fly off their branches as they gathered together.
Millions upon millions of blossoms gathered and began to block out the sky as a pink wall loomed over Shen. As they rose over him, it was as if they were suddenly affected by gravity as they began to come crashing down like a pink wave of water. As they fell on top of Shen, the Spirit of Senbonzakura could see Shen grinning as the blossoms engulfed him as they slammed into the ground.
After a few seconds of collapsing in on one another, the Spirit noticed something as the crimson lightning began to flow along the surface of the cluster. As the lightning intensified, so did the pressure as it seemed as if the cherry blossoms were being forced back until finally, they exploded, revealing Shen's figure as the sharp crimson aura covering his body disappeared, leaving only a few cracks of lightning.
"You're definitely a lot stronger than your master." Chuckling Shen bent down on his knees as he rocketed towards the Senbonzakura spirit. Flying over the Lake at such a speed caused the Lake to split as its peaceful surface was replaced with violent waves.
Reaching his hand out, Shen caught the Spirit off guard as he grabbed the spirits face forcefully, dragging it through the air. Pulling his hand back, Shen flew higher into the air before throwing the Spirit towards the land on the other side of the Lake. With his Ki infused into the throw, the Spirit crashed into the ground while Shen followed up, firing a beam of Ki towards the crater which the Spirit landed.
An explosion sounded as Shen halted himself mid-air, looking down the crater left from his previous attack. After a brief delay with a cloud of dust rising from the ground, cherry petals could be seen rising from the crater revealing Spirit who was already breathing heavily. 'For petals, they move pretty fast.' Even though he was suppressing his strength, Shen couldn't explain the rush he was feeling.
Even though he wouldn't consider himself a warmonger, something about fighting just made him feel alive. That's probably the reason he wasn't afraid to fight people stronger than him. Looking at the Spirit on the ground, it moved both of its hands in sync, splitting the mountain of cherry blossoms into two separate tornados that flew towards Shen.
The ground was torn apart, leaving a tattered path as the tornado flew to both sides of Shen. However, Shen responded faster than the Spirit thought he would as he looked in awe at the massive golden statue that formed behind Shen with a crimson aura flowing along its exterior. Three hands flew at each tornado as they coated in Haki.
Clashing with the tornado's the blossoms no matter how fast they rotated couldn't pierce Shen's Haki. Stopping both tornado's, Shen rushed appearing in front of the Spirit in a matter of moments. "Huh!" Taking a step back, the Spirit appeared 20 meters away from Shen in the air in an instant. However, the moment he appeared there, Shen followed him continuing his attack as if he didn't dodge in the first place.
Not having another chance to dodge the Spirit was in the stomach before causing the Spirit to freeze up. "Gah!" The next moment Shen grabbed the Spirit by the head, slamming his knee into his face before finally letting go in its unconscious state. Turning his Shen saw both two clusters of cherry blossoms closing in blocking off his view from the Spirit as it tried to recover. "He's too strong for me to fight alone."
Talking to himself, he turned his gaze behind him, where Byakuya could be seen standing in the air. "If a single Bankai isn't enough, then we'll just use two." Byakuya and his Spirit came up with a plan to scout out Shen's abilities before acting.
But since it had come to this point already, they had no choice. Looking at one another, they both nodded at one another as Byakuya drew his Zanpakuto. The wall separating them from Shen was lowered as Shen saw Byakuya and his Zanpakuto Spirit standing next to one another. 'Renji needed time to adjust before he could do anything in his inner world.'
Indeed the gap between a lieutenant and captain was large. 'Either way, I guess I should hurry and get rid of the two of them.' As much as Shen wanted to draw this out, he knew he had other things that had a much higher priority than having fun at least for now. Holding out his hand, a portal to Shen's dimension opened as a long blade appeared in his hand.
Seeing Shen was ready to move, the two of them braced themselves for Shen's attack. Meanwhile, in Hueco Mundo, a monitor was showing the current outlook of Karakura Town. "He sure did a number on that place, didn't he." Looking at the monitor, along with Aizen and Tousen Gin, had a strange smile on his face as he turned his gaze to Aizen.
"Lord Aizen, tell me why did you cancel your order to send Ulquiorra to the town?" Looking at Aizen, who had a wondrous gaze in his eyes, he replied. "We won't have to do anything. If I'm correct, he should have Urahara's Hogyoku in his hands. It's only a matter of time before he comes to us." Piecing together all of Shen's actions from this point, Aizen could tell what he was after.
Aizen continued. "As long as we wait patiently, everything will fall into place. For now, we continue to wait like we have been." Smiling lightly, Aizen tapped his finger on his throne as he continued to look through the monitor before turning his gaze to Tosen. "You've been quiet about this entire situation. What are your thoughts?"
Hearing Aizen speak, Tosen remained silent for a moment before speaking. "I can't help but wonder what he's ultimate motive is. He moves erratically, but he seems to be building up to something. I can't help but wonder what it is he's trying to accomplish." Tosen's interest in Shen wasn't as great as Aizen's or Gins, but he still had many questions.
Listening to Tosen Aizen smiled as he stood up. "You'll have the opportunity to ask him yourself when he arrives." Walking away, Tosen looked towards Aizen's direction before turning his gaze to Gin. "You've been observing him closer than you've been letting on Gin. I advise you to watch yourself from now on."
Turning away, Tosen disappeared in front of Gin's eyes however, his smile didn't falter as he looked back at the monitor. "Things are getting more and more interesting by the second."
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
Aizen_Dleitch
Aizen_Dleitch Note: After the mass release tomorrow, 2k words from now on, which should advance the story around two times the normal speed.
I hope you enjoyed this chapter!
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