Chapter 10: The Monster's Test
"Captain Zaraki, this matter with Shiba Kuroha…" Rukia hurriedly began.
"You're saying none of this has anything to do with Shiba Kuroha?" Kenpachi Zaraki pressed Renji's Zanpakutō back into its sheath with casual force, a cruel grin spreading across his face. "How could it have nothing to do with him? If not him, then who knocked out over a hundred prisoners? And managing to floor nearly a hundred criminals before even becoming a Shinigami—that's not something an ordinary person can pull off.
As for this black prison… I've been wanting to get rid of it for a while anyway. Now that it's gone, I'm actually free of the hassle.
Today's the spring entrance exam day for the Shin'ō Academy. You'd better hurry and take him there. Miss it, and you'll have to wait until next year."
Rukia had been tense during the first half of his words, but hearing that Kenpachi had no intention of pursuing the matter, she finally let out a quiet breath of relief.
Still, the fact that the black prison had vanished into thin air—along with over a hundred prisoners knocked unconscious—and Kenpachi was willing to let it slide… she couldn't help but ask.
"Captain Zaraki… I—I'd like to know. The reason you've repeatedly spoken up for Shiba Kuroha… is it because you had some connection with Lieutenant Kaien?"
"If that's the case, then on behalf of Lieutenant Kaien… thank you."
The memory of Kaien Shiba's life-saving sacrifice stirred deep guilt in Rukia's heart. At this moment, she almost wanted to become Kuroha's personal caretaker—protecting him at all costs.
"You mean that frail vice-captain from the Thirteenth Division?" Kenpachi scratched his spiky hair and gave a savage laugh. "I've got no interest in weaklings like that.
And I'm not speaking up for him. I'm speaking up because he's worth cutting. I want to keep an interesting toy around in the Seireitei."
Frail?
Rukia froze.
Kaien Shiba was the Shinigami she respected most. She had always kept those feelings buried deep in her heart. If anyone else had spoken ill of him, she would have argued back without hesitation.
But looking at Kenpachi's towering, iron-block physique… By comparison, Kaien really did seem somewhat delicate.
"Captain Zaraki, you're saying a drunkard is worth your blade? Isn't that giving him too much credit?" Renji finally couldn't hold back anymore.
"If you're only impressed because he one-punched a mutated oni… I'm afraid you're going to be disappointed later. Look at the reiatsu detection bracelet he's wearing. Check the reading."
Renji had graduated from the Shin'ō Academy with excellent marks and had been personally selected by Aizen for the Fifth Division. He had thought he could climb the ranks quickly and close the gap between himself and Rukia—now adopted into the Kuchiki Clan. Instead, due to "philosophical differences," Aizen had him transferred to the Eleventh Division. For a newcomer, being reassigned carried the stigma of being "not good enough."
Since joining the Eleventh, Renji had trained even harder—under Ikkaku's guidance, he was even working toward Bankai. Yet no matter how much he improved, he had never once appeared on Kenpachi Zaraki's "worth cutting" list.
Now, in just half a day, Shiba Kuroha had been repeatedly singled out by Kenpachi. That was the last thing Renji wanted to see.
"Three bamboo reiatsu? Renji, are you sure you didn't misread it?" Ikkaku Madarame removed the electronic bracelet from Kuroha's wrist.
The crimson number 9 glowed on the display. Renji and Rukia stared in stunned silence.
They had graduated from the Shin'ō Academy. Unlike Kenpachi and Ikkaku—who were exceptional recruits straight from Rukongai—they fully understood what a nine-bamboo reiatsu meant.
Even Tōshirō Hitsugaya, hailed as the most gifted student in academy history, had entered with eight bamboo. Only after three years of study, acquiring a Zanpakutō, and awakening Shikai did he reach nine bamboo during his graduation exam—earning the title of the academy's most promising prodigy.
Yet here was Shiba Kuroha—before even stepping foot inside the academy—already displaying nine bamboo reiatsu.
Did that mean even the prodigy Hitsugaya had been surpassed?
"No… impossible. When he was brought in, I personally checked his reiatsu. It was definitely three bamboo. Yumi can back me up," Renji said hurriedly.
"Three bamboo?" Ikkaku raised an eyebrow and rubbed his bald head. "Maybe the reiatsu monitor got damaged in the earlier fight?
If he really is only three bamboo… that's a bit disappointing."
In the Eleventh Division, strength ruled above all. Reiatsu level was one of the clearest measures of power. At the very least, in Ikkaku's mind, Kenpachi's reiatsu was monstrously overwhelming.
"Heh. If you want to know whether the number is real… just cut him once and find out," Kenpachi suddenly laughed.
The sheer cruelty in his grin made Ikkaku and the others instantly sense danger.
But before anyone could react, Kenpachi had already gripped the battered, notched Zanpakutō at his waist.
Shing!
The blade sang as it was drawn. The violent reiatsu dormant inside Kenpachi erupted in a torrent. A hurricane-like shockwave of spiritual pressure rolled outward.
Rukia, Renji, and Ikkaku were all forced back four or five steps.
Kenpachi raised the massive, chipped blade high overhead and brought it down in a ferocious arc toward Kuroha's head.
"No—!"
BOOM!
A violent storm of reiatsu exploded outward. But Kenpachi's jagged blade stopped dead—just centimeters above Kuroha's forehead.
Kuroha continued snoring peacefully, completely undisturbed.
Under such overwhelming reiatsu… his own spiritual pressure hadn't resonated or reacted at all. He hadn't even stirred.
"Even under that kind of reiatsu pressure, his own reiatsu didn't resonate or wake him up… so maybe he really is just three bamboo?" Ikkaku wiped cold sweat from his brow and exhaled in relief.
This was the person Captain Ukitake had vouched for. He really didn't want to see Kuroha get cleaved in half by Kenpachi.
"I told you—he's only three bamboo. Otherwise, under that kind of reiatsu surge, even if he's drunk, a powerful inner reiatsu would have resonated and jolted him awake," Renji quickly agreed.
Kenpachi's insane test had finally eased the knot in Renji's chest.
"Bullshit. This grandpa is the Spiritual King's Grand General—how could I be scared by some surface-level attack with zero killing intent? Only ordinary weaklings like you lot would be startled like frightened birds."
---------------------------
Support me and be 100 chapters ahead of webnovel:
patreon.com/inkroxx