Capítulo 9: The Puppet master
{Aaaaahhhhh, look who we have heree. My new pet has come to meeee. Oh how nice of youuu...}
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The three friends got on alert when they heard that. They looked around and saw an old man standing in front of them.
"C-Captain Sakahone? What is going on? Why are you here? And what do you mean with pet?", Jushiro asked nervously. He could feel the danger in the air and was nervous about it. The infamous Captain of the 13th Division, Saizō Sakahone. It was the captain of his Division.
{Ah you must be one of Yamamoto's boys ... yes you joined my Division recently ... hehehe good good.}
Sakahone was an old, bald, and gaunt man with tanned and wrinkly skin, sunken eyes, a prominent nose, and a hunched back. He wore the standard captain's haori over a shihakushō.
He had a creepy almost lustful smile on his face. It seemed he was not right in the head and it was made apparent by the way he was looking at Toji. Toji felt the danger but he also felt ... excitement. He was sure this was the first true fight to the death for him. And against a Captain of the original Gotei 13 no less.
The notorious killers that made up the first generation of Captains, all had reasons for being captains and it was not their lovable characters. They were all monsters in their own right. But Toji was no slouch either.
Over the four years since he had made the bet with Unohana, he had trained with many Captains, especially with Yamamoto sensei. He was so much stronger than he was back then already and that was without his Zanpakuto ability.
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"Jushiro, Shunsui, I think we should go back. Prepare to make a run for it.", Toji said.
The two nodded but before they could do something, Sakahone acted and began to walk towards them.
{You don't think I will let my new puppet get away now do you? I'm afraid you will all have to become my puppets now, that you have seem me here. But that's alright, we are all a happy family here in the Gotei 13 are we not?}
The creepy voice of Sakahone was hard to listen to. He was a disgusting man and just as they were about to run, someone appeared behind Shunsui and hit him over the head. Shunsui lost consciousness and fell to the ground.
"Shunsui!!!", Jushiro screamed.
Another silhouette appeared behind Jushiro and was about to slash him with a sword.
*Clang*
Toji blocked the sword, looked at Jushiro and screamed.
"Jushiro I'll hold them. Go get help and tell them what is happening!"
"But I can't-"
"Just go! We don't have time now."
"Alright."
Jushiro grabbed Shunsui and then Shunpoed away. The man in front of Toji disengaged and attacked Jushiro, but Toji was fast and appeared in front of him and blocked his sword again.
Toji looked at the man that he was fighting right now. He saw that it seemed to be a ... Shinigami! There were stitches all over the Shinigamis' face and hands. Many bandages were seen and his eyes were ... dead.
This man wasn't alive anymore.
"... a puppet..."
{Oh, you figured it out so fast eh ... Well done. You will make a nice addition to my collection. I can't wait}
"Now I understand why no one wants anything to do with you. You're not right in the head. No, you're downright crazy."
{Hehehehehe well it has a nice ring to it. But no matter why don't you entertain me a little bit? Or will you come on your own?}
"Beat it you relic. You won't see the end of this day, believe that!"
{Such bold words ... ah it almost makes me salivate ... yes yes you will make a nice puppet.}
.
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In the desolate, area of the Rukongai district, the disturbing Captain of the 13th Division, Sakahone confronted Toji, who wore a facade of excitement. This was it. This was finally a real battle where he could use his imagination and fight to his heart's content.
All the things he had learned over these close to 9 years since he was reincarnated in this world, were about to be used to their fullest. He was not going to hold back too much. He would only use his Zanpakuto to its full extent and not hold back.
He might be promoted to a Lieutenant instantly this way. So he could win the bet with Unohana at the same time. This was perfect.
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Captain Sakahone, a mysterious and unsettling figure with a perverted interest in experimenting on Toji and turning him into a puppet, approached Toji with a malevolent grin.
With a wicked gleam in his eyes, Captain Sakahone initiated the fight, his sword already drawn, and attacked Toji with centuries of experience. Toji, his true strength concealed beneath a veneer of serenity despite his excitement, unsheathed his Zanpakuto as well, giving no hint of his exceptional power. His Shikai was a cool one. He went full Toji in terms of looks. So he made his Zanpakuto look like the Soul Splitting Katana that Toji uses.
Captain Sakahone lunged forward, his movements bizarre and unpredictable, as he sought to carve up Toji with serpentine delight. Toji, maintaining his wide grin, met the captain's onslaught with calculated precision. Never giving him too much information about his true strength.
He skillfully parried Captain Sakahone's every strike, seemingly matching his grotesque enthusiasm. But that was far from the truth.
The battle unfolded in a disturbing dance of craziness and control, with Captain Sakahone's perverse interest in cutting into Toji driving the fight. But Toji, despite the captain's unsettling intentions, remained collected, never revealing his true strength, and skillfully defending against the captain's twisted attacks.
As the battle raged on, Captain Sakahone's depraved laughter echoed through the eerie streets.
{Hehehehehehehe .... Ohhh yesss Toji yesss... show me more of that smile ... you are making me weak ...}
Yet, beneath Toji's calm exterior, his true power began to surface. His smile that he put away for a moment to gauge Sakahone's strength, back on his face.
With a fluid and powerful strike, he momentarily knocked the captain off balance, a display of strength that misrepresented his collected facade from before and fit his current smile much better.
The captain, taken aback by Toji's unexpected power, regained his composure, a newfound fondness in his eyes. Not the healthy kind though the 'I will cut you and gut you' kind of fondness.
Toji, seizing the opportunity, continued to engage the captain, keeping the fight on a believable level. He wanted to make it interesting and push the Captain more and more and have the Captain push him as well. There was no growth without risks such as these. He would grow from this encounter and that is what he wanted.
Ultimately, it was Toji's controlled strength and unwavering smile that led to the captain acknowledging his defeat in terms of strength. Captain Sakahone, still smiling eerily, sheathed his sword and remarked,
{You are not as you seem, my boy. A clever ploy, but remember, true strength can be a double-edged sword. For I will make it mine in the end. You should have not shown your talent so obviously...}
Toji, maintaining his collected demeanour, looked at him. He was no longer smiling and was just looking at the Captain. He was expecting more.
"Was that it?"
{hehehe was that it? No, my dear boy, not even close. Now we get to the part where you become my puppet.}
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Toji and Sakahone faced each other, the tension in the air was palpable. Toji held his Zanpakuto, known as the "Matterweaver,", or Jūtai no Utagaki which had the power of matter manipulation. He could change the very fabric of reality with a mere thought, as long as his Reiatsu was present there.
Sakahone, on the other hand, was a captain of the Shinigami's 13 Court Guard Squads and wielded a Shikai that allowed him to manipulate strings of all kinds. Toji didn't know this yet. He didn't want to know yet as that would ruin the surprise.
"Shape the world, Jūtai no Utagaki."
Toji began the confrontation, his eyes narrowing as he concentrated. The ground beneath him transformed into a sticky, elastic substance resembling gum, but he knew what it truly was. It was mochi. The coolest of the Big Mom children used this, so it had to be good.
Sakahone's eyes widened in surprise, but he grinned, his expression twisted.
{So, you're one who can play with matter}, Sakahone said, his voice polluted with disturbing hunger.
{I wonder what you'll become when I turn you into a puppet. Oh, how glorious it will be.}
{Dance, Kugutsu no Ito}
Sakahone's Zanpakuto transformed and thousands of strings extended from it, which danced through the air like venomous serpents, seeking their target.
Toji reacted swiftly, transforming his body into a cloud-like substance. Sakahone's strings passed harmlessly through, but they didn't give up. They twisted around trees and rocks, trying to snare Toji and stop him from escaping.
As Toji reformed, he used his Matterweaver to alter the trees and rocks. They turned into massive tendrils of vines and thorns, which began to move independently. They elongated and wrapped around Sakahone as well as the strings.
The captain, however, deftly controlled his strings, preventing himself from being ensnared. He created a dome with his strings that protected him from the thick vines. He chuckled, his perverted desires clear in his expression.
{Such power, Toji,} Sakahone purred like a psychotic cat, {I can't wait to make you dance for me.}
Toji knew he had to be cautious. Jūtai no Utagaki could change the environment, but Sakahone's mastery over strings was something to be reckoned with. All his years of experience worked for him in this situation.
Toji transformed the very air into a dense, mucus-like substance, making it hard for Sakahone's strings to move freely. Seeing his strings' movement restricted, Sakahone used the next part of his Zanpakuto.
Sakahone was relentless, using his Shikai to call upon the army of puppet-like creatures from the fallen souls of his previous victims. These were all Shinigami that might have at some point been a part of the Soul Society or the Gotei 13.
The grotesque puppets, with hollow eyes and eerily deformed expressions, advanced on Toji. They moved like Zombies at first, but that quickly changed when Sakahone manipulated his strings to make them dance like marionettes.
Toji's stomach churned at the horrifying spectacle, but he refused to be paralyzed by disgust. He would have preferred his first fight to go differently but it is what it is.
Toji focused his power and turned himself into light, moving faster than the eye could follow. He sliced with his sword through the air and then transmuted the air pressure of his swing into ice. The ice cut through the strings controlling the puppets, freeing some of the lost souls and sending Sakahone's creations crumbling to the ground. It seemed that when their strings were cut, Sakahone would lose control over his creations and they would fall into their parts. Sakahone's face contorted in rage and frustration.
Infuriated, Sakahone unleashed his Bankai.
{Bankai ... Senritsu no Kotoba no Kyoku. (Stringmaster's Symphony)}
With this, the strings multiplied to the millions and he connected them to the very ground and trees, allowing him to manipulate the entire battlefield and take control of the fight.
The terrain shifted and twisted at his will, creating lethal obstacles for Toji. Trees uprooted themselves and tried to grab Toji with their roots, rocks became projectiles, and the ground itself rose to trap Toji. And from all around strings hid to capture him at a moment's notice.
Sakahone laughed maniacally as he controlled the battlefield. {I control everything here, Toji! You can't escape!}
Toji knew he needed a decisive move. With concentration, he transformed the very earth into a colossal, pillar that he had risen from the ground, blinding Sakahone temporarily and severing his connection to the battlefield.
Seizing the opportunity, Toji unleashed a barrage of hardened mochi projectiles at the Captain who was standing on a platform that he had created for himself, sending Sakahone reeling.
Sakahone's perverted demeanour had been replaced by anger and determination. He fought back fiercely, his strings dancing through the air in a heated, deadly ballet. He used them to cut and slice whatever Toji shot at him.
Sakahone tried to pierce Toji with string bullets and make him fall into the traps he had laid when he took over the battlefield.
Toji countered with complex alterations of the matter around him, creating barriers made of iron or other metals and weapons. He slowed the molecules in the air down, to cool it and make it hard to breathe for Sakahone who was still standing on his platform.
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The two combatants clashed, each pushing their abilities to the limit. Well at least one of them.
The battle raged on for 30 minutes, a spectacular display of power and strategy. Toji and Sakahone, locked in a deadly dance, pushed each other to their limits, neither willing to yield. Although Toji could end the fight using his imagination, he wanted to win with his Shikai alone.
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