Declaration of War

A senkai gate opened up in the sky over the buildings of Karakura Town. Emerging from it later were two shinigami, Kuro and Mika. Kuro was the only one who'd officially been sent to investigate the disturbance their mission detailed, but he didn't go much of anywhere without Mika these days. Believing it to be another simple hollow force, the two of them were beaming as they made their way towards the designated area side by side, planning on enjoying themselves after their work was over before heading back to Soul Society. The first sign of trouble they picked up on was the noise. A tragic din of screams, roars and screeches could be heard echoing through the streets. This was almost immediately followed by the dark sensation of dozens of evil reiatsus that Kuro and Mika felt as they got closer. When they reached the source of the reiatsu, they were shocked.

It wasn't a scene they hadn't experienced before. Kuro in particular had fought against many large groups of hollows in his career, but this was different. Hollows were moving as a pack, biting and scratching at anyone and anything that got within their reach. Various long range abilities were being fired at the buildings as the group slowly advanced down the street, leaving nothing but chaos in their wake. Souls fled from the hollows as they moved, while living beings simply tried in a panic to distance themselves from the seemingly spontaneous ruin of their town. The hollows were not pursuing the souls who fled from them, but ignoring their natural instinct and moving as one unit. Such a sight was astounding to Kuro. But at the same time appalling. He drew his zanpakuto and shunpoed down to the street in the way of the force.

"Concentrate, Seishou Seijin!"

Releasing his zanpakuto into its shikai state, Kuro fired a glowing beam of energy from his hand that tore through the hollows and forced them to stop and analyze him as a new opponent. But surprisingly, they did not break their ranks and swarm at him. Only halted and stared at him, as if waiting for something. Kuro saw a glowing shuriken pass on his right as Mika's zanpakuto was thrown at the group next. Still, the hollows did nothing to preserve their own lives, a large number of them being cut down by the flying weapon. Kuro shunpoed forward and caught hold of Mika preventing her from chasing her zanpakuto into their midst, feeling that they wouldn't be as observative if the two were to come that close. They both stood opposite the hollows, wondering what they could be waiting for and why. Their control was remarkable, holding themselves back even with two powerful potential snacks in their sight. The awkward stalemate continued for a whole minute before a new reiatsu signaled the arrival of another enemy.

A powerful reiatsu, only slightly lower than Kuro's own, burst forth from some position behind the hollows. Their force began to part in the back, the gap rippling down through the whole group to allow one person the walking space needed to take position at the head. He stood about five and a half feet tall with white spiky hair. He was clothed in a white vest shirt and baggy brown pants. But the most noticeable feature was his weapon: a long broad sword about as tall as he was that was strapped to his back. Mika looked with contempt as she saw he was carrying her zanpakuto. But both she and Kuro were surprised as the man gently lobbed if over to her. He stared with a look that showed readiness for battle, but also something like distaste. He spoke as Mika caught her weapon.

Spoiler:

"I wouldn't be so rude as to resume the fight with you separated from your weapon. Beating you in such a state would have no meaning."

Kuro got over his surprise and began to converse. "Those are pretty honor bound words for an arrancar. So how do you justify what you're doing to this town?"

The arrancar sighed as his face grew even more displeased. "There is no excuse for this operation. Blindly attacking the town and its weak residents...that doesn't sit well with me. But even so..." he charged forward with sonido and drew his blade in a swift motion, forcing Kuro to materialize a blade of energy from his zanpakuto to parry the strike, sliding backwards as he and the opponent were carried by the movement's momentum. "...you are going to die right here! Hollows, attack!"

Kuro strained to gain the upper hand as their blades ground against each other. "Mika, you deal with the small fries. I'll handle this guy." He jumped back to escape the clash and fired forward again to strike with his blade as the arrancar gave chase. The two of them began to repeat these motions, continuously clashing and looking for openings while Mika turned her shuriken back into its initial release state of a short blade with a ring on it. She then charged into the now advancing group of hollows, slashing with her blade as she disappeared into their midst. Kuro felt uneasy about her taking on such a large number by herself, but knew that this enemy wasn't going to give him the luxury of aiding her in this fight. Damn...be safe Mika

Kuro's opponent was powerful and durable, just like an arrancar should be. The strength he held behind his powerful arms and massive sword was an amount that would normally overwhelm a man of Kuro's size. But thankfully, Kuro had his zanpakuto to rely on, it supplying him with the physical boost he needed to stay on par with the enemy while looking for an opening. Parrying and sweeping aside the foe's latest attack, Kuro saw his chance and dove in for a stab at his stomach. His constructed blade glanced off of the arrancar's tough skin however, leaving Kuro's efforts fruitless and forcing him to dodge to the side and take his distance as balas were thrown at him to keep him away.

Mika was having an easier time, though nobody would believe it. Surrounded on all sides by the crowd of hollows, she found that almost nowhere that she swung her blade was there an absence of hollows, allowing her to "dance" through their ranks with her zanpakuto in hand, cutting up all that got close. Kuro's statement had been entirely true: these were just small fries. Not even one menos was mixed in with the bunch. They were all minor level hollows that could have formed as late as only a few days before. That made their disciplined behavior all the more perplexing. But Mika wasn't the kind to think further into things than that. She focused her mind on the battle, kicking a hollow and shattering its mask as she swung her zanpakuto at a snarling wolf hollow in front of her.

Kuro was making little progress in his fight. He was as strong as the arrancar was, and definitely faster, but he couldn't get a good enough opening to launch an attack that could do any good against that hierro.
"Hado #4: Byakurai!"
A bolt of lightning jumped from Kuro's finger and zipped past his foe as he tilted his head to avoid the bolt's path. He raised her sword to chop at Kuro but found the shinigami captain glued to him and his blade once again. Both growled with exertion and annoyance at the skill level and tenacity of the other. Kuro was still confused about the arrancar's earlier attitude, but knew for certain that he was trying to kill him and Mika. And that just wasn't allowed. He ducked under a horizontal chop and took a position right next to the arrancar. He drove his left palm with his gauntlet's stone glowing into the stomach of the enemy, resulting in a large metallic ring as his attack hit the Hierro. But the attack had done something. The foe scooted back with a look of pain spread on his face. Kuro looked and saw that Mika was doing well. She had defeated about half of the invasion force already and was still fighting strong and energetically. Kuro felt that he could now calm down a bit and fight the arrancar with few distractions.

The arrancar was glancing over at Mika's progress against his allies now, but he didn't seem surprised or bothered by it at all. "I knew that when opposition showed up that they wouldn't amount to anything. A weak force like them with nothing but blind destruction as their motive has no chance against those fighting to protect."

Kuro was surprised again by this arrancar's behavior. "Then why did you bring them here in the first place if you dislike this sort of thing? How the hell are you?"

"My name is Hideyoshi. That is all you need to know while we fight." Finished with his introduction, Hideyoshi raised his sword and slashed at Kuro again. Kuro shunpoed this time, ending up behind him and attacking with another powered palm thrust. The attack made Hideyoshi grunt, but he didn't move more than a slight flinch from the pain before swinging his sword around in a wide arc as he spun his body around to face Kuro again. Kuro leaped up and back and fired a beam from his zanpakuto down at the enemy's face. Hideyoshi was ready for this and brought his sword up to block the blast. Kuro was surprised that he wasn't using his released form yet. Kuro was proving to be an opponent that wouldn't go down otherwise, but still his foe fought with just his blade. They both were distracted again as the roars of the other hollows were finally silenced completely and a whirling noise sounded from the direction of where they were. Having finished all the other hollows, Mika was joining this fight. Her zanpakuto, back in shuriken form, was spinning towards Hideyoshi as Mika sped towards Kuro to back him up. Both of the shinigami were amazed as Hideyoshi threw out his arm with extreme precision and timing and stuck his hand threw the ring that was in the shuriken's center and caught it in mid-flight. Again, he simply returned the weapon to Mika, tossing it to the ground at her and Kuro's feet.

"My job here is done. I can now give a little more clarification considering your earlier question. I was not the one who decided on this attack. I was following orders, as was every hollow here. My master has sat back for long enough and now makes his move against any who should oppose him on Earth as well as in Hueco Mundo. We will meet again. I just hope the next time we meet isn't under as such tasteless conditions."

He finished his declaration and turned his back to Kuro and Mika as a garganta opened up behind him. Mika started forward, but Kuro caught her shoulder to tell her to let him go. There had been enough carnage today, and now they as well as had a war on their hands. The joyful mood they'd shared when arriving ruined, Kuro and Mika immediately set off for the Seireitei. This matter had to be reported as soon as possible, so their time together would have to wait.