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At the same moment.
As the newest line of subtitles appeared, shockwaves rippled through every corner of Seireitei.
Sixth Division
"?!"
"The first Kenpachi? Am I seeing this right?"
Staring blankly at the glowing screen, Byakuya Kuchiki frowned without realizing it.
The first.
The very first captain of the Gotei Thirteen.
That was someone from over a thousand years ago. Calling it "grandfather's generation" didn't even come close. They were practically the founding ancestor of the great noble houses.
For a brief instant, Byakuya felt disoriented.
As if he'd crossed through time itself, dragged back a millennium to the era when the Gotei Thirteen had only just shed their origins as a band of killers.
After all…The name "First Kenpachi" was simply too ancient.
Byakuya was certain that among the current Gotei Thirteen, only a handful of people even remembered that title anymore.
"Captain…"Renji Abarai spoke slowly, his voice uneasy. "Based on the earlier rankings, anyone who appears on the list should still be alive, right? But then why, in all my years here, have I never once heard anyone mention the First Kenpachi?"
The more he thought about it, the colder he felt.
He had wracked his brain just now, but there wasn't the faintest trace of memory connected to that title.
This was the first time he'd ever seen it.
That made no sense.
If the First Kenpachi were still alive, then even setting aside whether age had dulled their strength, their thousand-year seniority alone, on par with the Captain-Commander, meant they could never have faded into obscurity in Soul Society.
Byakuya considered Renji's doubts carefully, then shook his head.
"You're right. The one who created the title 'Kenpachi' is a legend in their own right. There's no way someone like that could remain unknown for so long."
Despite all the unanswered questions, whenever Byakuya spoke of the First Kenpachi, his tone carried unmistakable reverence.
"Captain, could it be…" Renji suddenly had a thought. "That the First Kenpachi has been imprisoned in Muken all this time?"
"Muken?"
Byakuya's eyes widened. "That's very possible. It would explain why neither of us knows anything about them."
"After all, aside from the Captain-Commander, hardly anyone is allowed to freely enter Muken."
"Unless…"Byakuya paused, then thought of another possibility."Unless the First Kenpachi has been living under an assumed identity, hiding their past."
"What?!"
Renji broke out in a cold sweat. "You mean… they've been disguising themselves in Soul Society for over a thousand years?"
That was terrifying.
A figure of legend, deliberately concealing who they were.
What could the First Kenpachi possibly want?
Eleventh Division Barracks
"Huh? The First Kenpachi? Someone that ancient made the list?" Ikkaku Madarame stared at the screen, baffled.
What was this supposed to be?
Wasn't this ranking about current strength?
Why was someone from a thousand years ago suddenly included?
Just thinking about how the thirteen divisions had gone through dozens of captain changes over the centuries gave Ikkaku a headache.
Damn it.
There had been so many captains over the years.
They couldn't all be competing for rankings, could they? That would be chaos.
"Yeah, no offense meant, but aside from the Captain-Commander, shouldn't the first generation of captains all be dead by now?" Yumichika Ayasegawa said, equally confused. "Otherwise, why has there never been a single record or story about them?"
Over the years, Yumichika had read plenty of old texts stored in the barracks and knew a fair bit about the Eleventh Division's past.
From its founding until now, there had been eleven Kenpachi in total.
In the historical records, aside from Kenpachi Kiganjō, who was cut down by Zaraki, only the seventh Kenpachi Kuruyashiki and the eighth Kenpachi Azashiro were well known.
As for the First Kenpachi, there wasn't a single word.
It was as if someone had deliberately erased that part of history.
Which only made it all the more unsettling.
"Tch. Who cares?" Zaraki Kenpachi snorted, one arm draped over his chipped Zanpakutō as wild excitement flared in his eyes. "The ranking's about to start anyway. I wanna see just how strong this so-called First Kenpachi really is."
First Kenpachi?
You'd better not disappoint me.
Otherwise, I won't acknowledge your existence.
Thirteenth Division, Captain's Office
At the tea table, the scent of freshly brewed tea drifting through the air, Shunsui Kyōraku and Jūshirō Ukitake exchanged a glance.
In each other's eyes, they saw the same shock and the same strange amusement.
The shock was obvious.
The First Kenpachi was actually on the list?
The odd part was that they both knew the truth.
The First Kenpachi's real identity was Unohana Retsu.
"I have to say, whoever made this video really knows how to have fun," Shunsui said with a grin.
"I can already picture everyone's reaction once the footage starts playing. Jaw-dropping, instant disbelief." He took a sip of tea, smiling with barely concealed schadenfreude.
Ranking the First Kenpachi?
This was almost cruel.
Back then, after she turned over a new leaf and vowed never to kill again, Unohana had done everything she could to bury that dark past.
And she had succeeded.
A thousand years had passed, and no one in Soul Society remembered who the First Kenpachi was.
No one ever suspected Unohana Retsu.
She had truly left her past behind.
And yet…
"Heh. If she had the choice, I'm sure Unohana would hit the pause button without a second thought," Ukitake joked softly.
"Ah well. Whatever happens, we'll just sit back and enjoy the show," Shunsui said, stretching lazily and whistling.
From here on out, he was perfectly content to be a spectator.
Meanwhile.
Inside the ranking video, the subtitles slowly faded away.
The scene shifted to a completely new location.
Dark. Silent. Pitch black.
On either side of a seemingly endless corridor, faint spiritual barriers shimmered, sealing the area off and preventing any intrusion.
Boom!
A massive door creaked open.
Through the thin sliver of light spilling in, a violent figure could be seen, Zanpakutō slung over one shoulder, striding forward step by step.
And when the final ray of light illuminated his face, revealing his features at last,
the entire Gotei Thirteen erupted in shock.
"Huh?!"
"What the hell… that's Captain Zaraki, isn't it?" Ikkaku froze.
The face exposed to the light was unmistakably Kenpachi Zaraki.
"What?!"
"Hold on, isn't this round supposed to be about the First Kenpachi? Why does it open with Captain Zaraki?" Yumichika was just as stunned.
Even more confusing was the sealed, oppressive space Zaraki stood in.
They had never seen a place like this before.
"Ikkaku. Yumichika…"
"I don't know why, but the moment I saw this place, my blood started boiling," Zaraki suddenly stood up, mirroring the version of himself on screen, Zanpakutō hoisted onto his shoulder. "I feel like I'm about to burst with excitement."
In that instant,
the Zaraki of the present and the Zaraki in the video seemed to resonate with each other, both sharing the same fearless hunger for battle.
Sure enough.
The next scene showed Zaraki stepping out of the darkness and into a vast, brightly lit chamber.
At the same time, the camera followed his gaze, slowly settling on the far side of the room.
"That's…"
Ikkaku narrowed his eyes, then shouted, "Look! There's someone standing there with their back to us!"
"Who is it?"
Because the figure was facing away, their features were impossible to make out.
But then Ikkaku's gaze dropped, landing on the number embroidered on the white haori.
His pupils shrank violently.
His voice came out hoarse with disbelief.
"Four…?"
"Could it be… Captain Unohana Retsu?!"
The moment he said her name, Ikkaku swallowed hard.
Even through the screen, even with only a single silhouette, the instant his eyes locked onto that figure, his heart began to race, every hair on his body standing on end.
It felt as if he were staring at a mountain of bones and corpses.
And that terrifying aura—It was completely unlike Unohana Retsu's usual presence.
"What's going on? Captain Unohana, why did she suddenly appear there? And why has her pressure become so horrifying?" Ayasegawa Yumichika was shaking with fear. Just the sight of her back alone nearly suffocated him.
"Could it be…"
"She is… the first Kenpachi?!"
...
The same scene was unfolding all across Soul Society.
Anyone who caught sight of Unohana Retsu's back and felt the murderous intent pouring out of her felt their scalp go numb. Any Shinigami below captain level was gripped by instinctive terror.
"No way…"
"Don't tell me… Captain Unohana is actually the first Kenpachi?!" Kuchiki Byakuya stared in disbelief, his breath nearly stopping.
Just moments earlier, he and Abarai Renji had been speculating nonstop.
They had been debating the abilities and appearance of the first Kenpachi, and after all that discussion, they had almost unanimously concluded that the original Kenpachi must have been a ferocious, monstrous figure.
And yet…
The legendary figure turned out to be Unohana Retsu?
That was beyond absurd.
"It's impossible! Captain, we must be wrong!" Renji blurted out. "There has to be someone else later on, someone who's the real first Kenpachi!"
Even though he could clearly feel the overwhelming killing intent radiating endlessly from Unohana's back, Renji still refused to believe his eyes.
His long-standing image of "Lady Unohana" was too deeply ingrained, pushing him to instinctively deny everything before him.
"Right! This has to be a mistake!" Byakuya said as well, clearly shaken. "No matter how you look at it, Unohana could never have anything to do with the title 'Kenpachi.'"
What was happening in front of them shattered beliefs he had held for decades.
However—
As the footage continued to play, and Kenpachi Zaraki stepped into the hidden chamber, the figure wearing a captain's haori slowly turned around.
As the number "Four" vanished from view on her back, Unohana Retsu's face finally appeared on the screen.
At that moment, the dark braid that had been draped across her chest was undone.
Revealed beneath her throat, just above her collarbone, was a clear and unmistakable sword scar.
Not only that—
The gentleness in Unohana's eyes was gone.
So was the compassion befitting a healer.
Instead, her pitch-black gaze became bewitching and terrifying, like a blood-filled abyss with no bottom.
If the Unohana of before was a medical captain revered by countless people, a woman who had embodied kindness for over a thousand years—
Then in this instant…
Unohana Retsu had completely reclaimed the memories of the past she had once abandoned.
The monster.
The unparalleled villain who, a thousand years ago, had made the entire Soul Society tremble in fear.
"Kenpachi Zaraki…"
Those blood-colored eyes rested calmly on him.
Unohana reached to her waist and slowly drew her zanpakutō.
At the same time, she addressed him with a cold, emotionless question:
"Are you ready to fight the first Kenpachi to the death?"
"..."
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