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The medical wing was a hive of activity. People came and went again with different orders, and most of what they where tasked with was so the life of young Shinrei could be saved. He lay sprawled over a medical table in the Upper Heights of Horiwari and so far he was not responding well to treatment. His internal organs had been damaged and his breast bone and ribcage had been severely damaged. His right lung had collapsed and his heart was beating only faintly.
‘Be careful, Kichō.’ Momoko advised calmly.
Kichō Sayaka was the young woman who had replaced Karis Nishiki as Lieutenant of the Ryū Order’s 4th Division when Karis left for Heisekai with Tyrell and Kazuma to lead the Dragonforce branch of the Order. She sported tied back brown hair and big brown eyes with a bloodstained white coat and white gloves. As her Captain spoke she nodded.
‘We need to start organ regeneration procedures immediately.’ Momoko continued.
Yoshiro, Sojiro and Yoshiro’s Lieutenant Mikado Sayaka watched from outside through a small window. The reflection showed that Yoshiro had just come up from the training yard: he was wearing a sleeveless and torn dull blue kimono with scuffed black hakama. His brown locks where messy and dissheveled; a far cry from his usual style of dress. Sojiro served to strike quite the clash. He was well dressed and equally well turned out. He sported a white uniform with slashes of silver at the breast with knee-high black boots with his sealed zanpakutō propped against his shoulder. Mikado was in the middle. She had obviously rushed on the way here: her uniform was immaculate but her white hair was messy.
‘What happened?’ Yoshiro asked.
Sojiro shook his head with a defeatist sigh. ‘Apparently Kenji happened.’
‘Say what!?’ Yoshiro roared. ‘I know Kenji goes to excess at times when he’s training, but come on, even he-’
‘Captain Kazuki,’ Mikado interjected. ‘I sent a messenger after you, but it would appear he never actually found you.’ Yoshiro was getting more confused by the second. ‘Head-Captain Hiroshi is suspected of betraying the Order. The spiritual reading taken by the Spiritual Arts Measurement Unit places Head-Captain Hiroshi at the scene, sir: It was he who put Shinrei and Kaimen in the state they are in.’
Sojiro merely nodded. ‘I’m sorry. I would have sent word had I know you did not know.’
Yoshiro staggered backwards until he hit the nearest wall which he put his hand on to steady himself. Was this possible? Could the man he befriended in the Shinō Academy countless years ago have really raised his sword against the boy he had adopted and treated like his own? Was he truly capable of betraying everyone he ever knew and trusted? His mind said yes… but his heart said no. He knew Kenji! He would sooner take a sword in the gut himself rather than let his friends take it.
‘… Is this authentic?’ He struggled to say.
‘Looking at the readings… Yes. There’s no doubt.’ Sojiro replied.
‘Captain Kazuki.’ Mikado said. ‘With Head-Captain Hiroshi unaccounted for and Miss Hiroshi incapacitated, you are next in the chain of command. What are our orders?’
‘Stuff the hierarchy!’
The trio turned to regard a man they had scarcely seen hide-nor-hair of in sixteen years! Kusaka Kori sported a torn black kimono missing its right sleeve with black hakama, tabi and simple waraji. His black hair had been trimmed and styled to the left of his face so that his fringe lay over his left eye. Covering his right hand and climbing up his right arm was a Sanrei Glove with an unusual appearance. It was completely black save for a segmented area around the wrist and the fingers, which where blue. Flanking him on his left was Fujimaru Namikaze. Like Kusaka his uniform was torn and tattered and his purple hair was dishevelled. Blood was also trickling down from a small cut on his left arm visible through a tear on his sleeve.
‘I heard everything.’ Kusaka said before Yoshiro could even speak. ‘So save all the greetings for later. I want you to find where Kenji is now. Last I heard he was enjoying a holiday in the Human World, which was where Ino was discovered heavily injured by Van Satonaka.’ Even if his powers had left him his ability to command had not. ‘Mikado, contact the Spiritual Arts Measurement Unit.’ He turned to Sojiro. ‘Brother, I want you to come with me.’ Next was Yoshiro. ‘I want you to sit here and defend. Do NOT do something stupid. Leave this to me and Sojiro.’
‘I’m sorry to say this, Kusaka, but what can you do? You have no powers!’ Yoshiro snapped.
Fujimaru chuckled. ‘You could say that we’ve… rectified that problem. Show them, Kusaka.’
Kusaka held his gloved right hand out and concentrated spiritual energy into his palm which formed the basis for what he was about to do. He then drew in spiritual particles from the atmosphere which he immediately combined with the energy in his palm. A solid katana with a razor sharp tip instead of a tapered point appeared in his palm where the energy was and Kusaka slashed it through the air once with a wide grin on his face.
‘I’m Kusaka Kori, the first Artificial Quincy. Nice to meet you all.’ He dispelled the blade. ‘Now it’s high-time we found Kenji, ‘cause when we do, I’m gonna get me some answers.’
Kenji hated this part the most. Setting broken bones was easy. But putting dislocated ones back into place again was another matter entirely. His left elbow had been knocked out of place by Nakajima’s Bankai giant so he had to address that before he could sort anything else. Taking his left forearm in the grip of his right hand Kenji began with a few testing jerks before he gave a decisive jerk which caused him to grit his teeth in pain! He then punched the rooftop with his good hand to vent his anger.
‘Don’t do this at home kiddies,’ he joked.
His left arm was still in bad shape though. The strike he only managed to block indirectly had also broken the bones around his bicep and in his lower forearm, and the force of it had also split the skin in several places. His wrist was particularly bad. Charging his right palm with the symbolic green energy of healing Kidō he proceeded to take his time and be thorough in his examination. Tut. It was worse than he thought. Concentrating his internal flow of reiryoku he stilled the flowing blood from his wounds, allowing him to clean and then close them. What was left was a little white scar that showed where the skin had been resown. Given time it would fade. It was merely another scar atop the countless he already sported.
‘Those bloody kids these days.’ He complained like an old-aged pensioner. ‘No respect for their elders!’
When he finished his self diagnosis and first aid he had returned his left arm to full working order. He then tested the muscles and bones by going through some choreographed Zanjutsu sequences against an imaginary opponent. He had to stop when he tried bending his left elbow at an angle needed for one of his favoured flourishes. Sitting down again he tweaked the muscles and bones again with healing Kidō and flexed them with reiryoku. This time he had no discomfort at all.
‘I should open me up a surgery.’ He joked to himself. ‘I’d make a killing.’
He then disengaged his Bankai form and sheathed his daishō pair through his ōbi so that they overlapped in a slight X shape. He then dropped from the rooftop into a nearby alleyway which was thankfully deserted and summoned to his side a lightning-generated Gigai dressed in blue jeans, a short sleeved white shirt and a sturdy brown boots. Entering the body he sighed heavily as he stepped into civilisation.
‘Whew! I’m parched! Where was that pub again…?’
‘Forgive us. But he escaped from us.’
The target of this statement was a sharp-featured male with neatly combed down silver hair with a scar on his lip. He wore a white shirt and a black blazer with average black chino trousers accompanied with sturdy brown leather shoes. He merely looked surprised.
‘You told us he wouldn’t be fit to challenge us all!’ Ichihara snapped.
‘Peace, brother.’ Kitsui pleaded.
‘But Ichihara is correct.’ Nakajima said with a polite tone. ‘We got one good attack in, but aside from that, he utterly dominated us.’
‘And we even attacked him four-on-one.’ Kurokawa whispered with disbelief. ‘He’s no mere Shinigami.’
The male listened with a calm ear. It was as if he had envisioned this very outcome. ‘It doesn’t matter, my brothers.’ Oda Kōhai stepped forward. ‘You see, it was never your mission to actually defeat him. That is impossible even for me.’ He then shook his head. ‘As you fought here a being by the name of Kenjiro Hiroshi attacked both the Ryū Order and the Seireitei. He wounded Captain Yume of the Gotei’s 3rd Division and almost killed Captain Sadao of the Gotei’s 12th Division. In addition he also managed to incapacitate Van Satonaka of the Rogues and Captains Hitsugaya and Amagai of the Gotei 13. This being has spiritual power almost identical to Kenji’s own.’
Kitsui began chuckling. ‘How very like you, my brother! I assume now that the Ryū Order and the Gotei 13 assume that Kenji has betrayed them?’
‘That is correct.’ Oda replied. ‘So allow me to apologize. I was not able to share this stratagem with you because of time issues. I was only recently made aware of this Kenjiro individual myself and had to move accordingly. Forgive me.’
‘We’ll let it slide… this time.’ Ichihara answered with a wide grin. ‘But what are your directions now?’
Oda sighed. ‘Nakajima, Kurokawa,’ both brothers regarded Oda expectantly; ‘Itazura Kori has arrived in Heisekai and is attempting to gather information about Takahara Yasuhiro and Zenshin. You are to watch him and, if he delves too deep, eliminate him and his allies. Our plans in Heisekai are too important to risk failure.’ Both vanished to be about their assignment leaving Kitsui and Ichihara alone with their brother.
‘What would you have us do?’ Kitsui asked.
‘Kitsui, I need you to watch the situation in Horiwari. I want the Ryū Order to mobilize. Ichihara, I want you to watch the Seireitei. I too want them to mobilize as well.’ Oda’s face broke into a wide smile.
‘Do I sense a war in the making?’ Ichihara asked to which Oda nodded his agreement. ‘Leave it to me!’
The next chapter in the Impostor arc storyline is co-authored by Kenji-Taichō and Razo. At the same time Kusaka Kori confronts who everyone believes to be the real Kenji. Both chapters run concurrent to one another, time-wise.