After Kisuke Urahara left, the two looked toward the end of the pebble path, where a man with a spiky, hedgehog-like hairstyle was walking toward them.
The white haori worn by the spiky-haired man was very conspicuous, giving Ichigo Kurosaki and Ryūken Ishida a bad feeling.
"Crap, looks like a Shinigami Captain!" Ichigo felt his scalp tingle with numbness.
The encounter a few days ago gave Ichigo a clear understanding of a Shinigami Captain's strength. Relying solely on their current strength, it would be very difficult to save Rukia by force.
Therefore, before coming to the Soul Society, he had planned to disguise himself as a Shinigami to infiltrate the Seireitei, sneak into the prison holding Rukia, and after saving her, leave the Soul Society with Ryūken Ishida and Kisuke Urahara, who would be waiting outside the Seireitei.
As a result, bumping into a Shinigami Captain right after arriving in the Soul Society likely meant the infiltration plan was ruined.
The spiky-haired man was the Captain of the 11th Division, Kenpachi Zaraki. He sized the two up and questioned, "What are you two doing in the dojo's back mountain?"
"Captain!" Ichigo had a quick idea and pointed at Ryūken Ishida. "I am guiding a soul from the World of the Living to the Soul Society."
Ichigo intended to bluff his way through.
"Heh... You look very unfamiliar, but you seem to have some strength!" Kenpachi Zaraki didn't care much about Ichigo's excuse. He revealed a ferocious smile. "Come and fight me!"
"What?"
The Shinigami Captain's response exceeded Ichigo's expectations. He didn't even react for a moment, but he had no time to consider anything else because the Shinigami Captain had already charged forward with his sword.
Ichigo had to draw his sword to meet the attack.
The shape of his Zanpakutō had changed greatly, turning into a huge blade without a handguard.
During the few days of training in the underground training ground of the Urahara Shop, he successfully mastered Shikai.
The broad and thick blade blocked the front of his body, intercepting the incoming slash.
Clang—
Ryūken Ishida wanted to help but was blocked by a little girl with pink hair.
"Move!"
"Don't disturb Ken-chan's fight~"
Seeing that Kenpachi Zaraki's sword looked tattered with many chips on the blade, Ichigo gripped the hilt tightly, wanting to use force to press forward and snap it. However, the tattered blade was abnormally sturdy, steadily holding back Ichigo's Zanpakutō.
Ichigo's resistance made Kenpachi Zaraki even more excited, and the Spiritual Pressure within his body skyrocketed crazily.
The airflow of Spiritual Pressure forced Ichigo back several steps.
"This Spiritual Pressure is even stronger than the Shinigami I met a few days ago!" Ichigo didn't dare to be arrogant and gathered his Spiritual Pressure on the blade edge. "Getsuga Tenshō!"
A golden crescent moon surged from the blade edge, slashing toward Kenpachi Zaraki at high speed.
After a few days of training, his Spiritual Pressure slash had turned into the more powerful Getsuga Tenshō.
However, what Ichigo didn't expect was that Kenpachi Zaraki also slashed out a streak of blue flowing light, blocking the golden crescent moon.
"Hahahaha! this move looks a bit familiar!"
Kenpachi Zaraki laughed wildly and swung his Zanpakutō. The blue flowing light collided with the incoming golden crescent moon.
Boom—!!!
The crescent moon exploded with a bang. The pebble-paved road was instantly reduced to dust, and even a large swath of the adjacent forest was flattened by the Spiritual Pressure shockwave.
"Cough, cough—"
After the dust settled, Ichigo Kurosaki was half-kneeling on the ground, barely supporting himself with his Zanpakutō to avoid falling.
He had lost the clash just now. This Shinigami Captain's Spiritual Pressure was above his, and the slash was sharper. The moment the two crescent moons crossed, his Getsuga Tenshō was cut in half, so he had essentially taken the damage of that slash head-on.
Ichigo glanced at Ryūken Ishida's side. His friend was entangled by a small Shinigami and couldn't support him at all.
"I can't fall down..." Ichigo supported his body with his Zanpakutō and stood up trembling.
"Was my intuition wrong? You're much weaker than expected," Kenpachi Zaraki said casually, resting his Zanpakutō on his shoulder.
The opponent's strength didn't meet Kenpachi Zaraki's expectations, causing his fighting spirit to drop significantly.
Since the Lieutenant of the 11th Division was Kenpachi Kuruyashiki, and there were numerous formidable fellow disciples to spar with, Kenpachi Zaraki's Spiritual Pressure was maintained at a relatively high level. It was not something the current Ichigo could withstand; just one slash had shattered his Blut Vene.
Facing the immediate crisis, Ichigo was powerless to hide anymore and dispelled the idea of continuing to disguise himself as a Shinigami.
A cluster of Reishi clouds gathered above his head, and countless threads hung down, connecting to various parts of his body.
Ransōtengai!
"What is this thing?"
Kenpachi Zaraki had long forgotten the content learned at the Spiritual Arts Academy and didn't recognize this as a Quincy ability at all.
"Although I don't know what you did, it seems you can still continue fighting." Kenpachi Zaraki grinned, raised his sword, and used Shunpo to step forward again.
Whoosh—
Kenpachi Zaraki instantly arrived in front of Ichigo.
Splurt—
A blade light flashed, and a wound appeared on Ichigo's abdomen.
But Ichigo was unaffected by the injury and immediately counterattacked.
Splurt—
Kenpachi Zaraki didn't actively block the blade; he took Ichigo's counterattack directly with his body.
In an instant, several wounds appeared on both of their bodies.
"You seem to have become more durable!" Kenpachi Zaraki laughed broadly, the scar on his face becoming even more terrifying.
The injuries on their bodies didn't affect their movements. After taking another slash, Ichigo condensed a Heilig Pfeil in his left hand and smashed it fiercely into Kenpachi Zaraki's abdomen.
But Kenpachi didn't let him have his way. He grabbed the Heilig Pfeil with one hand and threw it behind him, easily neutralizing Ichigo's offensive.
"You're a Quincy too?"
Kenpachi Zaraki finally realized that the opponent in front of him was a Quincy.
He came to the dojo's back mountain because he sensed unfamiliar Spiritual Pressure fluctuations here; he didn't know who the two people trespassing on the dojo's back mountain were.
Ichigo didn't respond to Kenpachi's question. Dense Reishi veins appeared on his body surface as he switched his Blut to Blut Arterie (Dynamic Blood Guise): "Getsuga Tenshō—"
Driven by Blut Arterie, the power of Getsuga Tenshō increased several times over, making even Kenpachi Zaraki feel threatened.
"My intuition was not wrong!" Kenpachi became even more excited, swinging his Zanpakutō to slash out a streak of blue flowing light again.
This time, the blue flowing light didn't cut the golden crescent moon open but remained in a stalemate for a while.
However, Kenpachi's Spiritual Pressure was ultimately stronger than Ichigo's. The blue flowing light gradually pressed the golden crescent moon back.
After holding on for over ten seconds, the golden crescent moon dissipated rapidly, and the lethal blue flowing light constantly approached.
He had switched his Blut to the Blut Arterie form to release a more powerful Getsuga Tenshō, and now, to maintain Getsuga Tenshō, he was temporarily unable to switch the Blut back to Blut Vene.
Without the defense of Blut Vene, he simply couldn't withstand an attack from the blue flowing light.
Just as Ichigo was desperately releasing Spiritual Pressure, some white substance appeared on his face.