What?
Matsumoto Rangiku was deeply shocked.
How was Haineko able to perform to this extent?
Was it really capable of severing the spiritual connection between reiatsu?
Was this even Haineko anymore?
Had Yuta just killed Kenpachi Zaraki?
She could hardly believe it, standing frozen in disbelief.
What stunned her even further was the moment Yuta had activated his Shikai-when did he even gain the ability to release it?
And that sword, wrapped in bandages-what exactly was it?
Ise Nanao was even further shaken. She understood her own circumstances to some degree-how she was the inheritor of the divine sword Shinken Hakkyoken-but she couldn't understand what she had just seen from Yuta.
His blade had used the abilities of another person's Zanpakutō. That shouldn't be possible unless it wasn't forged by ŏetsu Nimaiya to begin with.
Could it be that Yuta's Zanpakutō was one of those inherited weapons from ancient families? Just like her family's Eight Mirror Sword?
Nothing made sense anymore.
Until recently, Hinamori had confidently said Yuta was just another student from Shino Academy.
Now even that felt completely wrong.
How could someone with that kind of power be just another student?
Was he really the Kido Corps Captain?
Nanao tightened her grip on the uniform she had held this entire time, her face turning red from embarrassment as she realized what she and Momo had done earlier. Her toes curled slightly in shame as she looked down.
Hinamori Momo was stunned into silence-mouth gaping in disbelief as she stared ahead.
When had Yuta become this strong?
Wasn't he supposed to be just another newly enrolled student?
Kusaka Yachiru's eyes were wide, the pink blush beneath them deepening in focus. Her hands were clenched tightly as she watched.
Her smile was small but genuine, her attention fixed entirely on the battlefield now cleared of dust.
Kenpachi was enjoying this fight. Genuinely.
In the years she had followed him-since his earliest days in Rukongai-she had seen him in countless fights. And not once had he been this animated in defeat.
For the first time ever... he looked alive in the struggle to stand.
What Aizen Sosuke fixated on, however, was not the Zanpakutō's borrowed ability-it was Yuta's control.
Even if someone managed to mimic this attack style, they wouldn't be able to execute it without Yuta's precision and control.
Most would fail to maintain the form of so many minute particles of dust, much less direct them simultaneously with intent.
And Yuta hadn't just controlled them-he had aimed precisely at the spiritual links within Kenpachi's body and severed them on contact.
It was the equivalent of directing millions of weapons to strike with surgical accuracy in perfect unison.
With control at that level, it was no surprise Zaraki Kenpachi was forced down this way.
Even then-Kenpachi rose again.
Despite the dust burning away his spirit particles again and again, he pushed his broken body up from the ground, bleeding from every inch of exposed skin. Each time he began to recover, the spiritual link in his body was severed again, slicing away the effort before it was realized.
Death and resurrection repeated without end.
Kenpachi couldn't make sense of what he was experiencing. Consciousness slipped in and out without warning. Sounds-like footsteps or voices-reached him in broken fragments. There was no clear stream of time for him anymore.
He heard Yuta's words intermittently through the haze-
"Are you wondering why you keep dying and resurrecting?"
"It's because you haven't reached your limit."
"Every opponent you've fought before... you were always just slightly stronger than them."
"That's the problem."
"Your strength has always been far greater."
"Do you know what Kenpachi means?"
"It's the title for someone destined to be defeated by the next Kenpachi."
"Keep fighting-because one day, another Kenpachi will stand before you."
"Someone you'll want to lose to."
"Since you were born in Rukongai... you've met nothing but trash-nobody worth even testing your blade on."
"But one day... you met someone."
"Someone you finally saw as... your opponent."
"Someone you respected."
"Someone you feared losing to-because after her... no other fight would matter."
"So you sealed your strength... slowly... until it was no longer yours."
"But now-every death pulls open one of those seals."
"With each moment... you're recovering your true power."
Kenpachi's body shifted forward under Yuta's haze of dust. Bloody and tattered, he stood again.
His muscles trembled and his movements were sluggish-but he stood anyway.
Kakakakakaka-
Reiatsu crackled around him again as he rose further, and though his form was ragged and brutalized, his eyes began to light with laughter.
"Interesting... very interesting..."
"I didn't think... that anyone besides Unohana Retsu... could ever make me feel this alive."
"Yuta…"
"Yuta!"
Zaraki Kenpachi roared, his breath ragged and uneven. Pain radiated through every step as he pushed forward, dragging his blade nearer to Yuta. The weight of exhilaration and power swelled in his chest-until his legs gave out beneath him.
He collapsed hard onto the ground.
Faint and distant, he heard the echo of a call.
"Who... who is calling me... get out of here...?"
"You finally... heard my-my name... I've been... watching you... closer than anyone... My name is-"
Zaraki realized it was his Zanpakutō speaking-but before the words could finish forming, his vision dimmed. The sensation of fatigue overcame him entirely. The sound, the battlefield, the pain-it faded beneath the weight pressing down on his eyelids.
Just... one moment longer...
He extended his hand toward Yuta one last time, blade trembling, but the tip fell just shy of its mark.
His consciousness slipped before he could close the distance.
Kusaka Yachiru appeared beside him quickly and bowed deeply toward Yuta. "...thank you. Thank you for letting Kenpachi have fun."
Hinamori Momo rushed over next. "We have to stop the bleeding-only I know how to handle Captain Zaraki's injuries!"
Yuta turned to Ise Nanao, palm extended toward her. "Beautiful lady. May I have my clothes back now?"
"Ah… oh… of course," Nanao replied, quickly handing over the captain's haori, her composure returning slowly as the moment passed.
Yuta dressed and walked away alongside Aizen Sosuke, the two of them vanishing down the corridor without another word.
Later that night, at the Fourth Division Barracks, Zaraki Kenpachi stirred on the medical bed. He couldn't open his eyes, but he heard the rising and falling voices around him.
Unohana Retsu's presence was unmistakable among them. She stood over him as he drifted in and out of awareness.
"So, do you know what happened now?" she asked those nearby-Kusaka Yachiru, Hinamori Momo, and others in the room.
Before Yachiru could respond, Zaraki managed to rasp out, "Let... me say it…"
Unohana's expression remained composed, but her hands tightened slightly at the sight of his wounds. Few knew Kenpachi better than she did. Fewer had fought him with their lives on the line.
Could anyone have pushed him this far?
Zaraki exhaled heavily. He could feel his chest struggling with every breath, blood dragging his movements down. Unohana began treatment silently, but the extent of damage was clear. The spiritual links that composed his inner framework had nearly unraveled. What remained held together only by his sheer will.
"I could feel it… he wasn't using everything… it was exciting," Zaraki said between labored breaths. "I feel stronger now-closer... to understanding… the beginning."
His will to rise again surfaced, and he shifted as if to get up, but Unohana pressed sedimentation medicine through her hand with precision and forced him into rest again.
It was beyond what even she had expected-Zaraki had awakened some deeper potential, and even then, he had been overwhelmed.
And who had done it?
Unohana's hand froze momentarily over his chest. She had not anticipated anyone pushing Zaraki this far. She had thought that thrill-the one he always chased-had long died in her.
Perhaps she had been wrong.
Beside the bed, Kusaka Yachiru's legs swung slightly as she sat relaxed on the edge.
"The one who fought Kenpachi is named Yuta," she said simply.
Unohana's eyes narrowed when she heard the name. "Yuta?" she repeated to herself. She remembered the boy she met at Shino Academy-the one known for Kaidō.
Was combat truly his core talent?
She thought back to the wounds on Zaraki's body. The damage wasn't consistent with basic slashes-it carried traces of overwhelming force, the kind that resonated with Bankai-level release.
From across the room, Kotetsu Isane approached.
"Captain, what are you thinking about?"
Unohana lifted her head slowly. At that moment, Isane faltered. There was a chill in the room, brief but unmistakable. The look on her Captain's face had shifted-it wasn't cruel, but it was certainly not gentle.
Isane glanced down and realized her hands had begun to sweat through the sleeves of her uniform.
"Isane," Unohana said calmly, "what's wrong?"
"N-nothing, Captain," Isane replied quickly. "Would you care for some tea?"
Unohana shook her head once, her expression unchanged. "No... but I'd like to invite someone for tea."
"Who?"
"Yuta," Unohana said. "I believe he would enjoy the kind I brew."
(T/N: YESS!!! UNOHANAMAMA!!! I'M COMING!!!!)
PS GOALS: 150 PS= 5-10 extra chapter on an update.
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