Perhaps guided by the power of fate, at the moment Mayuri encountered Ashisogi Jizo, other Shinigami like Renji and Hisagi Shuhei also encountered their respective Zanpakuto.
2nd Division's Lieutenant, Omaeda Marechiyo, along with several of his men, headed towards the archives room that stored various records from within the Soul Society.
"Honestly, what a joke? They want me to go through past records to confirm if there's any information on Muramasa. What a pain in the neck. Ah, crunch..." Omaeda complained discontentedly while biting into the scallion pancake in his hand.
"And he has the nerve to say that? Didn't he volunteer for Captain Kyoraku's mission because he thought searching the Seireitei was too much trouble?" The few Shinigami behind Omaeda whispered quietly among themselves.
"Hmm? What are you guys saying?!" Marechiyo Omaeda suddenly spun around and barked at the behind him.
"Nothing! We said nothing at all!!" The Shinigami replied in unison.
"Hmph!" Omaeda snorted coldly and continued walking forward.
Thump!
After only two steps, Omaeda tripped over something and tumbled to the ground with a thud, the snack bag containing his scallion pancake falling from his hand.
"Lieutenant! Are you okay, Lieutenant!!" The Shinigami behind him quickly rushed forward.
"That hurt! Who the hell left something lying in the middle of the path..." Omaeda started cursing in annoyance.
"Ah!!"
As he was complaining, Omaeda realized he was lying on top of a person. What he had tripped over was actually a Shinigami lying on the ground! He immediately jumped up.
"What's this? What's going on?" Omaeda noticed that not only was there a Shinigami at his feet, but several others were lying unconscious a short distance away. The door to a nearby building was wide open, as if someone had broken in.
Just then, footsteps echoed from inside the building.
Tap, tap, tap...
A large, fat man with red hair styled into a pentagon emerged from the building. Like Omaeda, he was holding a scallion pancake, eating as he walked.
"Huh?!" x2
The moment they saw each other, both Omaeda and the stranger couldn't help but freeze. They both felt an uncanny resemblance to the other. Then, simultaneously, they stepped forward and sized each other up.
"Crunch... delicious!" x2
In unison, they took another bite of their scallion pancakes.
Their actions and expressions were identical, like twin brothers.
Omaeda was the first to speak, "You... you wouldn't be..."
"That's right! I'm the great Gegutsuburi!" Gegetsuburi readily admitted.
In the Bleach TV anime's [Zanpakuto Unknown Tales Arc], the Zanpakuto faction was stronger than the Shinigami, so the rebelling Zanpakuto rampaged through the Seireitei, causing severe damage to buildings and personnel.
But in this timeline, due to Toshiro's influence, the Shinigami side was overall stronger. Thus, the Zanpakuto didn't dare to launch a large-scale assault like in the anime. Only a few individual Zanpakuto, unable to contain their hatred for Shinigami, launched attacks on small groups.
Of course, Omaeda's Zanpakuto, Gegetsuburi, hadn't specifically come out to attack him. He was just looking for food.
Like Omaeda, Gegetsuburi was a foodie. Stuck with Muramasa and the others in a dark cave, he hadn't had any decent food.
Unable to bear it any longer, Gegetsuburi had snuck out to find food, not expecting to run into Omaeda so coincidentally.
"Hahaha... I see. So you're Gegetsuburi. No wonder you're my Zanpakuto. You're quite handsome, aren't you?" Omaeda laughed, slapping Gegetsuburi on the shoulder repeatedly.
"What? Have you looked in a mirror, you bald fool? And you dare to be so pleased with yourself?" Gegetsuburi retorted without holding back.
"Bastard! I'm not bald! This is just my hairstyle!!" Omaeda shouted angrily.
"So ugly. It's because you're like this that I ended up materializing in this form!!" Gegetsuburi grumbled, pinching the flab at his waist.
"What are you talking about? You're my Zanpakuto, but your sense of aesthetics is so warped?!" Omaeda looked incredulous.
"What?!" Enraged, Gegetsuburi extended his hand and a meteor hammer materialized in it.
"Hmph! You want to fight? Who's afraid of who! I'll make you submit again right here today!" Omaeda, not backing down, drew his sword with a clang.
"If you think you can, then bring it on!" Gegetsuburi said disdainfully.
Then, one holding a sword, the other a hammer, they stared each other down, searching for an opening.
The night wind rustled, and a tense, deadly atmosphere hung between them.
Drip!
Both Omaeda and Gegetsuburi broke out in a cold sweat simultaneously.
"Ha!" x2
With a simultaneous shout, they were about to charge at each other.
Boom!
Suddenly, a wall beside them burst open, creating a large hole, and a massive piece of rubble hurtled towards Omaeda.
Bang!
The rubble struck Omaeda squarely, sending him flying.
Thud!
Omaeda hit the ground, unconscious.
"Oh dear, my mistake. I kicked the wrong person."
A voice came from the hole in the wall, and Mayuri's figure stepped through the gap.
Glancing at the unconscious Omaeda on the ground, Mayuri said nonchalantly, "Well, whatever. It's just Omaeda. No big deal if I kicked the wrong one."
Then he turned his attention to Gegetsuburi. "Speaking of which, I didn't expect to run into a Zanpakuto here. Perfect timing. Ashisogi Jizo is broken in two and can't be used for experiments anymore. I'll just take you back as a test subject."
'This is bad. He's Captain-class...' Gegetsuburi thought to himself.
Even though Mayuri, without his Zanpakuto, was certainly weaker than at his peak, even so, against a Lieutenant-level like Gegetsuburi, victory wasn't guaranteed.
'Forget it. Better not tangle with him. I'll head back for now.' Gegetsuburi thought to himself.
Although he wasn't completely outmatched, Gegetsuburi, much like his master Omaeda, was no fearless warrior.
Shunpo!
In a flash, Gegetsuburi appeared in mid-air, ready to flee.
Shunpo!
Just then, another figure suddenly appeared behind Gegetsuburi and kicked him.
Bang!
The kick landed squarely on Gegetsuburi's head. He plummeted to the ground with a thud, unconscious.
"Tch! Meddler. I could have kept him here without your help." Mayuri said discontentedly, looking at Sui-Feng who had suddenly appeared and stolen his prey.
Sui-Feng ignored Mayuri. She glanced at Gegetsuburi. "Men! Take him into custody!!"
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
At Sui-Feng's command, members of the Onmitsukido materialized and apprehended the unconscious Gegetsuburi.