02: soot falls like snow

Two of the Onmitsukidō Gundanchō had perished already with one of those being regarded as their overall leader. Further hindering their recovery was the task of quelling riots, and on top of that it seemed there was a direct assault to deal with. Was it a cohort of the rebels? Or were there others with unrest towards the Onmitsukidō?

He had not believed it himself when the report first came to him. But there he was, a sole man standing victoriously over the gatekeepers with evident pride to his work. The concealed spiritual presence was something that Sano noted, and his words further assured the Gundanchō that he wasn't dealing with an ordinary renegade. However, he was a bit of a step beyond his peers when it came to assassination.

"Oh?" he responded coyly. Sano had been hidden in the treeline as the intruder assumed, though his mastery of foot techniques made stealthily clearing the distance between the two a small feat. A single step to the halfway point, another step to place him self a few feet off to the intruder's side and then one more to place himself at what he believed to be the man's blind spot. He would have gone straight for the kill had he not had a few words for the fellow assassin.

"I cannot help but wonder what drives you to do this, stranger. Does Yashin fear any potential justice for his sins, or is this a product of your own desires?" He pointed the broken tip of Moyume's blade at the intruder as his eyes narrowed upon him.

Sometimes the shinigami wondered why he even bothered trying when it came to questioning his quary. What really bothered him was that the man seemed to be able to track his movements, hinted by the fact that he had been met with the man's gaze at the culmination of his high-speed transition. Either he coincidentally turned at the right time for an expected flank, or Sano's movements were not very difficult to trace for his opponent.

"I see," he remarked. Not only was this man brimming with killing intent, but he also seemed to hold some knowledge of Sano's abilities while the reverse was not true.

Luckily for him, his opponent could not move faster than he could react. As the blade came forth with an attempt at his throat, Sano's evasion of choice would be a sway combined with the movement of his own sword hand to further place his opponent's blade off course. Believing an opportunity to strike had opened up, Sano's free hand would glide towards his opponent's chest. The strike would not be a simple one either, as his index and middle fingers would extend at the last moment in an attempt to send his opponent flying with a Tsukiyubi.

Now it was certain. His opponent's ability to react was remarkable, and his agility it self was enough to make the battle troublesome. Still, Sano found some entertainment in the challenge presented to him, though the threat of death had not completely faded from his mind. Even so, it seemed something motivated the attack beyond senseless killing. Especially with the question proposed.

"Minimizing loss and saving the ship with four hundred is the reasonable decision. I am, however, an unreasonable man that would try to save both." He didn't see the harm in the sincere response. If one of them should meet their end at the culmination of their battle, then they could at least better understand their slayer.

"And what would your choice be, stranger?"

The man acknowledged his answer but not his returned question. Sano arched a brow at this curious fellow as he proceeded to retreat into an extremely vulnerable position. Another question would be presented and his opponent would be off again. Sano had no issue tracking the movements, though he was growing tired of the antics.

His hand became coated in spiritual energy as his body pivoted. The coated hand would attempt to catch and crush the blade while his knee shot forward in an attempt to disrupt his rising opponent.

"Kill the men. Is this a round of twenty-one questions?"

Sano's eyes widened for a moment, a bit surprised by the sudden flare in his opponent's spiritual pressure. His eyes then narrowed in contempt, having come to realize that his opponent could afford to ramble so much on account of raw spiritual strength alone. Sano's response would first come in surrounding his body with spiritual energy in the same way it had coated his hand, causing the levels to spike to what was regarded as lieutenant-level.

"If I had a lover, she would despise me for not trying to save the girl," he began as his zanpakutō froze over.
"Find comfort, Moyume--!!"

His zanpakutō would shatter, and icy dust filled the air around the two. Their battlefield would become drowned in snowfall as white spiritual energy embedded itself on Sano's upper body like a massive tattoo. His eyes gazed upon his opponent and seemed almost glossy.

"But anything with sentience is a creature of instinct, and I am no different."

Sano's body had displaced several yards to the side as his spiritual presence dropped once again, though he still felt the roar of his opponent's strike. His eyes widened at the destructive capacity, as he had not seen such devastating power since that of the late Jukan Hinaai.

In one fell swoop he had been rendered obsolete. His whole purpose was the protection and regulation of the detention unit, and the essential removal of the unit itself left him without cause. There was no way for him to subdue the freed convicts in addition to Sumanai, nor was there any place to hold them. For once in his life, Sano felt himself utterly defeated without even suffering a mortal wound.

As much as his emotions told him to strike down the man who flaunted such power haphazardly and spat upon the sacrifices of his predecessors on a whim, Sano had to force himself to obey reason. The Onmitsukidō were a shadow force, not a conglomerate of brutes who fought for things like pride. The code they lived by was securing victory at all costs, and he certainly could not guarantee victory if he perished there.

Blue hues looked back once more at the evidence of what had transpired. It was still a surreal event to Sano, and he began to question many things. Many emotions mixed within the shinigami as his body faded from view once again.

Sumanai was certainly posing his question to no one, as Sano's presence became dust in the wind. His legs would carry him as fast as they could to a location he had neglected to approach due to the passing of Zhi Mubiao. While he might have been able to escape danger, he could not escape duty.

"I've let you down, old man..."