Kensei Muguruma & Rōjūrō Ōtoribashi vs. Mask De Masculine

Kensei Muguruma & Rōjūrō Ōtoribashi vs. Mask De Masculine is a fight taking place during the second invasion of the Quincy Blood War, focuses on 9th Division Captain Kensei Muguruma and 3rd Division Captain Rōjūrō Ōtoribashi's battle against Sternritter "S" Mask De Masculine.

Prelude[]

In the replaced Seireitei, as he receives a Shin'eiyaku from Kisuke Urahara, preventing his Bankai from being stolen,^[2] 11th Division 3rd Seat Ikkaku Madarame observes that night has fallen, and when 5th Seat Yumichika Ayasegawa questions if it has not already been nighttime for a while, Ikkaku clarifies that it was just cloudy before and that night has now fallen across the entire Soul Society, which he does not like since the shadows are now darker. Behind them, 9th Division Lieutenant Shūhei Hisagi climbs over a pile of rubble and recognizes Ikkaku and Yumichika, who wonder what he is doing here. As he approaches them, Hisagi explains that the different terrain made him lose his way and that the Wandenreich have spread high-density Reishi across the Seireitei to prevent the Gotei 13 from tracking them.^[3]

Suddenly, with Ikkaku bringing up how the Wandenreich have been appearing from the shadows and warning Yumichika and Hisagi that this means traveling at night would be exactly what they want the Shinigami to do, Sternritter "S" Mask De Masculine falls down onto them,^[4] though the trio manage to evade him at the last second. At the bottom of the crater, Mask pulls himself out of the ground and commends Ikkaku, Yumichika, and Hisagi for dodging this despite being an "undercard", prompting Ikkaku to deny being an undercard and Yumichika to threaten to rip off his mask so they can take a look at the ugly face underneath it, to Mask's bemusement.^[2]

Deciding to make this a 3-on-1 deathmatch to peel off his mask, Mask has James ring a gong and unleashes a shockwave while inviting the Shinigami to attack him, which leads Ikkaku to attack him with his Shikai, Hōzukimaru, and Yumichika to slash at Mask with his Zanpakutō. Despite this, Mask merely grabs their weapons with his hands to stop their attacks mid-swing, holds them up in the air as Ikkaku and Yumichika express shock, and proclaims that it is impossible to defeat a superstar while they are hiding their powers prior to throwing Yumichika into a nearby building and whipping Ikkaku through the air by spinning him around.^[2]

Before Mask can throw Ikkaku as well, Hisagi wraps the chain of his Shikai, Kazeshini, around Mask's arm to stop him and asserts that they are making this a chain deathmatch as well. Seconds later, a grinning Mask flexes his muscles to break free of Kazeshini, but Hisagi exploits his new posture to wrap more chains around him, binding Mask's arms to his side, before Ikkaku stabs Hōzukimaru into Mask's face, leaving him seemingly incapacitated.^[2] Hisagi, Ikkaku, and Yumichika stand over an incapacitated Mask with their Shikai while, in the distance, 7th Division Captain Sajin Komamura defeats Bambietta Basterbine with his Bankai.^[5]

As Ikkaku expresses amazement at the size of the explosion they just witnessed, Yumichika informs him that two Reiatsu signatures disappeared afterward, with one belonging to an enemy, before a cursing Hisagi deduces that the other belonged to Komamura and attempts to run off. However, they are interrupted by James crying over Mask and begging him to get up. Though Ikkaku is confused by the presence of a tiny old man and Yumichika tells him to not bother attacking since Mask cannot fight anymore, James' cries cause Mask's body to surge with energy and emit a bright flash of light, causing him to stand up and acknowledge James.^[5]

With Ikkaku, Yumichika, and Hisagi bewildered by this, Mask declares that a superstar always gets a second round, though Ikkaku reminds him that he said this would be a one-round match, and has James ring the bell again. Hisagi tells Mask to stop joking and assumes a battle stance alongside Ikkaku and Yumichika, but Mask claims that he is always serious and rushes forward to deliver a strong punch that knocks the three of them into the air, where Mask kicks them down into the ground with enough force to incapacitate all of them,^[5] then pins down Hisagi with his elbow and counts to three in order to declare victory.^[6]

Turning to James, a triumphant Mask muses that although he has finished off every captain they could find, it is lackluster for them to not have a crowd witnessing his feats, which James agrees with, before two lights burst through the clouds and descend into the city miles away, where 13th Division Lieutenant Rukia Kuchiki and 6th Division Lieutenant Renji Abarai land.^[7] Mask admits he does not know who they could be since they fell so far away and ponders the predicament of whether or not he should go after them before turning to James, who points out the spectacle these two made would ensure Mask getting the spotlight if he defeats them.^[8]

Alerted by this, Mask decides to go after them and encourages James to keep up before Kazeshini wraps around his ankle. Despite Hisagi refusing to be defeated just because Mask reached a three-count, Mask yanks on the chain of Kazeshini to pull Hisagi toward him, delivers a brutal clothesline to Hisagi in midair, and affirms that he does believe he won from that prior to attempting to stomp on a prone Hisagi. However, he is interrupted when 9th Division Captain Kensei Muguruma stops Mask's foot with his own and admonishes Hisagi for getting knocked out without displaying the results of his training before introducing himself to Mask when the latter asks him if he is associated with these Shinigami, leaving Mask elated to be facing a captain. Despite Mask explaining that he regrettably cannot fight Kensei because he is on his way to investigate the fallen objects, 3rd Division Captain Rōjūrō Ōtoribashi approaches him from behind and decries this since Mask has two captains to face, making them an excellent choice if he wants to garner a reputation.^[9]

Battle[]

With Mask intrigued by this, Kensei promises that they will not take too much of his time and activates his Bankai, Tekken Tachikaze, to gain a pair of gauntlets on his fists connected by a band behind his head. In response, Mask rips off his cloak, promises to defeat Kensei in a ten count, and launches himself toward Kensei with Star Dropkick, only for Kensei to casually block his feet with his left gauntlet while being pushed back several meters and express disbelief at Hisagi being defeated by such a weak attack before switching his right gauntlet to a set of spikes and driving it into Mask's stomach, to the latter's shock.^[10]

With the surrounding area being cratered and Mask collapsing in pain at this, leaving James concerned at a single hit doing this to him, Kensei picks him up by the collar and explains that his Shikai, Tachikaze, can detonate things in the trajectory of its blade, while Tekken Tachikaze compresses the force of those explosions into his fists. Burying his right gauntlet in Mask's midsection, which causes the latter to begin vibrating from the repeated tremors racking his body, Kensei declares that this explosive force will continue to assault Mask so long as the gauntlet remains in contact with his body and sends Mask flying hundreds of meters away into a building.^[11]

While Rose muses that Kensei will not be needing any help from him, a despondent James tells Mask that he cannot lose, and as a nonplussed Kensei notes that the enemy's weakness is making them look like the villains here, Hisagi pushes himself up from the ground nearby and warns Kensei that he needs to take out James first just before James begs Mask to come back, which causes Mask's eyes and mask to glow with golden light while he jumps down from the building, lands behind Kensei and Rose, and sends them flying with powerful punches prior to introducing himself and declaring that James's cheers are the source of his power.^[12] Atop the tower he crashed into, an annoyed Kensei sits up and cracks his neck before launching himself down toward Mask, who is still facing away from him while posing. Suddenly, Mask disappears from the ground below and reappears in front of Kensei with Hirenkyaku to knee him in the chest with Star Eagle Kick and smash his head with Star Headbutt.^[13]

Angered by this, Kensei switches the right gauntlet of Tekken Tachikaze to brass knuckles and delivers a powerful punch to Mask's blocking forearm, creating a barrage of force that engulfs them. However, once James cheers for him again, Mask grabs Kensei's fist, proclaims this has no chance of working on him, and breaks Kensei's right arm with a downward chop before smacking him down to the ground, where Kensei screams in pain over the bone protruding from his elbow. Slamming down knee-first into Kensei, Mask sees he is unconscious and concludes he will not need a ten-count just before James is ripped in half by Rose's Shikai, Kinshara.^[14]

Though Mask curses him for harming an innocent fan, Rose counters that he does not care what Mask says since the latter cannot release his power without James and refuses to let this chance go to waste after Kensei went to such great lengths to create it before activating his Bankai, Kinshara Butōdan, creating a dozen large, humanoid figures, a large set of hands in the air behind him, and a conducting wand out of the length of Kinshara. After describing Kinshara Butōdan as a dance troupe of death whose admission cost is Mask's life, Rose has the figures encircle Mask and initiates Sea Drift, crushing a bewildered Mask in a surge of water.^[15]

For his second attack, Rose unleashes Prometheus, causing the figures to blast Mask with fire generated from the petals on their faces while the latter expresses disbelief at a Zanpakutō being able to use both fire and water. With Mask realizing that this must be an illusion, Rose confirms this and asserts that illusions captivate the heart before elaborating that his control of music causes the deceptive melody in Mask's ears to captivate his heart, which means that Mask will burn and breathe his last from hearing the melody as Mask notices that the right shoulder of his shirt has been burned off by the illusionary flames.^[16]

Despite this, before Rose can finish him off with Ein Heldenleben, Mask sticks his fingers in his ears, and though Rose states that covering his ears will not help, Mask withdraws his fingers to reveal they are covered in blood. Upon seeing this, a horrified Rose realizes that Mask ruptured his eardrums to deafen himself, which Mask grins at prior to blasting a star-shaped hole into Rose's torso with Star Flash and declaring that the villain shall die by the hero's beam of light.^[17]

Aftermath[]

Laughing maniacally at this, Mask stops when he sees Rose's hand twitch and comments on his remarkable vitality before unleashing another Star Flash. However, the blast is deflected off Renji's Shikai, Zabimaru, into a building as the latter appears in front of Rose in new clothes and introduces himself to a surprised Mask as a villain.^[18] Landing next to Renji, Rukia is told to carry Rose and Kensei to safety while Renji handles Mask alone. After looking over a clueless Mask, Rukia agrees to do so since Mask is no match for what Renji has become and carries the captains away with a shawl, leaving Renji to begin his rematch with Mask^[19] as she delivers them to 4th Division Lieutenant Isane Kotetsu.^[20]

References[]

Navigation[]

Quincy Blood War
Major Participants	Ichigo Kurosaki • Uryū Ishida • Yasutora Sado • Orihime Inoue • Kisuke Urahara • Isshin Kurosaki • Gotei 13 • Royal Guard • Visored • Tier Harribel • Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez • Wandenreich • Sternritter • Asguiaro Ebern
Events
Fights & Events	The New Shinigami Guardians & the Broken Balance • Ichigo Kurosaki vs. Asguiaro Ebern • Rise of the Wandenreich • Return to Hueco Mundo • Wandenreich vs. The Arrancar • Fall of the Seireitei • Ichigo Kurosaki & Ayon vs. Quilge Opie • Byakuya Kuchiki vs. Äs Nödt • Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto vs. Driscoll Berci • Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto vs. Royd Lloyd • Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto vs. Yhwach • Ichigo Kurosaki vs. Yhwach • The Royal Guard Arrive • Royal Training • Kenpachi Zaraki vs. Retsu Unohana • The Rise & Fall of Masaki Kurosaki • Isshin Shiba & Masaki Kurosaki vs. White • Soul Society: Battle Ready • Rise of Uryū Ishida • Wartime Coordination • Tōshirō Hitsugaya & Rangiku Matsumoto vs. Bazz-B • Suì-Fēng vs. BG9 • Tōshirō Hitsugaya vs. Cang Du • Sajin Komamura vs. Bambietta Basterbine • Kensei Muguruma & Rōjūrō Ōtoribashi vs. Mask De Masculine • Renji Abarai vs. Mask De Masculine • Rukia Kuchiki vs. Äs Nödt • Yachiru Kusajishi vs. Guenael Lee • Kenpachi Zaraki vs. Gremmy Thoumeaux • Ichigo Kurosaki vs. The Bambies • The Gotei 13 vs. The Sternritter • Battle of the Zombies • The Royal Guard vs. The Wandenreich • Ōetsu Nimaiya vs. the Schutzstaffel • Ichibē Hyōsube vs. Yhwach • Fall of the Soul King • Bazz-B vs. Jugram Haschwalth • Mayuri Kurotsuchi & Nemu Kurotsuchi vs. Pernida Parnkgjas • Shunsui Kyōraku vs. Lille Barro • The Gotei 13 & The Visored vs. Gerard Valkyrie • Nanao Ise vs. Lille Barro • Uryū Ishida vs. Jugram Haschwalth • Yoruichi Shihōin vs. Askin Nakk Le Vaar • Kisuke Urahara vs. Askin Nakk Le Vaar • Ichigo Kurosaki vs. Yhwach: Rematch • Ichigo Kurosaki vs. Yhwach: Final Fight