บท 48: Unstoppable vs. Immovable
Though he immediately Shunpo'd away, Ohta felt an intense heat across his chest, the tip of Zaraki's sword having cut through both his active and passive psychic barriers and leaving a thankfully shallow wound from his diaphragm to his shoulder.
Swishing his sword to get Ohta's blood off of it, Zaraki mused, "You're a tough little bastard, ain'tcha? Even when the tip of my sword entered your flesh, it felt like I was cutting through stone."
Forcing a smile as he placed his hand over his wound and attempted to heal it, Ohta asked, "Do we have to do this right now? As someone looking for a challenge, I doubt you'd be satisfied defeating me when I'm at half-strength..."
"Hmmm..."
Resting his sword on his right shoulder, tapping it rhythmically, Zaraki looked like he was seriously considering Ohta's words. He was terrible at sensing spirit energy, so he could not verify if Ohta was at half-strength. However, as weak as Tosen was, he was still a Captain. It made sense if Ohta was a 'little' tired.
"And how do I know you won't run away or make excuses the next time?" asked Zaraki. "Even if you're only at half strength, I'd rather be the one to kill you than leave it to someone else."
"I can understand that..." replied Ohta. "However, if you were watching my fight with the Captain of Squad 9, you would know I'm not a close-range fighter. Rather than a proper fight, you'd end up chasing me around until I either made a mistake or gave you the slip..."
Adopting a toothy grin, Zaraki confidently asserted, "You're lying. You have quick reactions, and I can tell from your posture you're no slouch when it comes to fighting. Even your Zanpakuto suggests you like to get up close and personal with your opponent."
Exhaling a faintly exasperated sigh, Ohta pulled his Zanpakuto from his hilt, holding it low near his hip, tip facing toward Zaraki as he got into a loose combat pose, smiling as he remarked, "Fine...I'll play with you for a bit..."
"That's the spirit," replied Kenpachi, abruptly pulling the fabric of his kosode and Haori aside, exposing his muscular chest as he mused, "But let no one say I'm not a fair man. Go ahead, show me what you can do."
Raising his brows, Ohta asked, "You're giving me a free attack...?"
"That depends on you," replied Kenpachi. "If your attack does nothing, you'll have no one to blame but yourself. So I suggest you make it count, kid."
"Well, if you insist..." muttered Ohta, concentrating his spirit energy into the tip of his Zanpakuto as his body appeared to flicker. Zaraki's Reiryoku was like a gigantic lake with a turbulent and unstable surface. Ohta's was more like a frigid pond in an underground cavern, comparably calm, still, and with depths unknown.
"Huk..."
Though he was hopeful that Ohta could cut him, Zaraki was forced to exhale when the former stabbed him precisely in the diaphragm, burying his Zanpakuto to its hilt, the very tip of the blade pricking the intimidating Shinigami's heart. Unfortunately, when he immediately tried to pull away, Ohta found himself in a similar situation as Renji...
Swinging his sword to force Ohta to retreat, Zaraki's smile stretched at the muscles of his face as he grabbed the hilt of the knife stabbed into his body and raspily remarked, "Wow, you actually went for it. And without a shred of hesitation. I like you, kid. You've got guts..."
Pulling Ohta's blade from his abdomen, Zaraki casually tossed it over as he menacingly mused, "I can't wait to see what they look like."
Though it was nowhere as 'seamless' as a traditional Shunpo, Zaraki's raw speed caused goosebumps to spread across Ohta's body as the terrifying man appeared behind, sword raised high.
Contrasting Zaraki's expectation, Ohta didn't attempt to dodge out of the way. Zaraki had marked him the last time, so he suspected his back would be sliced open if he tried. Instead, he backstepped into Zaraki, bumping into the man's bleeding chest and reaching up to try and grab his wrist as it continued its downward arc.
Feeling a sensation akin to vertigo, Zaraki exhaled a raucous laugh as Ohta used a psychically empowered shoulder throw, hurtling him toward the ground several meters below, cratering it and producing an eruption of stone and debris more than 30m in height.
Understanding that such a blow wouldn't defeat Zaraki, Ohta rocketed skyward. As he did so, Zaraki emerged from the dust cloud, dispersing it with the momentum of his leap as he bellowed, "Where you going, gaki!? Things are just starting to get good...!"
Raising his right hand over his head like he was about to slap a bitch, Ohta intercepted Zaraki's pursuit with a massive hand-shaped construct. Zaraki 'somehow' managed to slice it in half, but the energy abruptly exploded as he did, stalling him long enough for Ohta to chant, "Oh Spirits of the Earth and Sky, hear my call. In this abode of spirits, I command the elements to form a stockade! Bakudo #40, Kaidan no Kago...!"
Though he doubted it would hold him for long, Ohta made a criss-cross gesture with his index and middle fingers, causing two plates of golden light to materialize at Zaraki's flanks before abruptly 'snapping' towards one another as he prepared a strike. When the light faded, Zaraki's neck and right hand were trapped in a stockade formed from spirit energy, the smile fading from his face as he shouted, "Cheap Tricks! Come and face me like a man...!"
"I'm here to rescue my woman, not to entertain you," replied Ohta, raising his hand high before striking down like he was trying to chop fifty tiles in a single go. As he did so, a much smaller but faster hand-shaped construct descended toward Zaraki like a bolt of lightning. He managed to angle his body and intercept it with his sword, but due to the stockade throttling his spirit energy and messing with his posture, he ended up being knocked to the ground a second time. When he emerged several seconds later, Ohta was already long gone. However, instead of lashing out and getting angry, Zaraki stared at the sky for a moment before bursting out laughing...
Interrupting Zaraki's laugh, an extremely tiny girl with pink hair, dark pink eyes, and perpetual blush marks on her cheeks appeared out of thin air, latching onto his back and asking, "Did you have fun, Kenny~?"
"Eh, I wouldn't say that..." replied Zaraki, albeit with a smile on his face.
"Then why are you laughing?" asked the girl, tilting her head nearly ninety degrees to the side.
Adopting an anticipatory grin, Zaraki explained, "Because if that was only half his strength, our next battle should be even more fun. Let's ambush him somewhere with a ceiling next time."
"Okay~!" replied the pink-haired girl, dangling her legs as she perched upon Zaraki's shoulder on her stomach. Despite her small size and child-like appearance, the girl, Kusaijishi Yachiru, was the Lieutenant of Squad 11, as indicated by the wooden badge attached to her sleeve. One of her duties was to track down strong opponents for her Captain to fight, so while Zaraki had no idea where Ohta had escaped to, Yachiru looked to the East with narrowed eyes and a smile...
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"And now I'm back here..." groaned Ohta, plopping down and sitting with his back to the wall of the underground tunnel he had descended into to recuperate. The wound Zaraki inflicted on his chest was saturated with the man's spirit energy, so it had been aggravating rather than closing up over time.
Using what remained of his spirit energy, Ohta expelled Zaraki's from his body before utilizing a basic Kaido technique to close the wound forcibly. It was far from healed, feeling like he had pulled every muscle in his left pectoral, but he had always had a high tolerance for pain. When it got especially bad, he even started laughing uncontrollably. Not because he was a masochist or anything but as an involuntary coping mechanism.
Exhaling a dry chuckle, Ohta briefly considered tracking down Yoruichi and requesting Orihime's assistance. He didn't know if her barrier-based healing could mend his wound, but her Reiryoku seemed especially suited to Kaido. If he or Yoruichi explained it to her, it might not even take her a few hours to master the basics. The bubbly ginger 'did' owe him a favor...
Deciding it wasn't worth it to give Orihime a 'reason' to worry about him, Ohta lay on his uninjured side, enduring the pain as he tried to get some rest. It definitely wasn't easy, but the breathing techniques Yoruichi had taught him to focus his mind and proactively enter his soul space/palace allowed him to suppress the pain until he found himself face-to-face with a giant, visibly concerned kitten...
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Feeling his body descend into a pool of warm liquid, Ohta's eyes snapped open, his body lurching forward as a familiar voice issued a "Kyaaaa...!" at his side.
Looking toward the voice's origin, Ohta was confused but unsurprised to find Orihime. The fact she was in her underwear was mildly disconcerting, but as they seemed to be in a murky hot spring, remarkably similar to the one in Urahara's underground study chamber, he supposed it was better than her being completely naked.
"I thought that might wake you up," remarked an equally familiar voice, drawing Ohta's gaze to Yoruichi, casually swimming around the hot spring in her feline form. It was somehow more perturbing to see a cat enjoying a hot spring, so Ohta's concerns about Orihime's state of dress vanished as he asked, "Where is this...?"
Perhaps dissatisfied that Ohta had immediately looked away from her, Orihime took it upon herself to explain, "It's a secret training area that Mr. Urahara and Yoruichi constructed long ago. We've been staying here to avoid detection and train."
Looking back at the usually bubbly woman, Ohta found Orihime staring at him with a forced smile and worry in her eyes, making no effort to conceal her massive tits, bound in semi-transparent beige fabric. Her panties had a similar color, likely coming as a set, but Ohta didn't get a good look at them as he held the girl's gaze for several tense moments before looking down at his chest, now completely healed.
Preempting what she believed to be Ohta's question or expression of gratitude, Orihime's countenance softened as she revealed, "Yoruichi brought you here on her shoulder and asked me to heal you. After that, we brought you here to clean the dirt and blood from your body."
"Why didn't Ichigo or one of the other guys bring me over...?" asked Ohta, prompting Yoruichi to explain, "The three stooges are undergoing special training right now. Orihime has been preparing meals and was standing by in case anyone gets injured, so I had her heal you up before carrying your smelly ass over here."
Though he was tempted to ask why Yoruichi didn't treat him where she found him, Ohta felt he would be spitting in the face of Orhime's effort if he voiced his thoughts aloud. He knew this was the catty woman getting back at him for the many times he pushed her buttons, so he decided the best course of action was to appear and remain calm.
Meeting Orihime's gaze, Ohta said, "Well, as you can see, I'm awake now. I appreciate the treatment, but I can wash my own body."
"Oh...okay..." replied Orhime, her smile becoming awkward as she looked away, a faint red hue coloring her cheeks. She hadn't actually planned to wash Ohta's body. Rather, Yoruichi had told her to toss him in, promising that he wouldn't drown even if he sank to the bottom. The reason she was in her underwear was because she had been doing laundry when Yoruichi arrived with his unconscious body in tow...
Leaving Orihime feeling even more flustered, Ohta adopted a faint smile and said, "Still, thanks for treating me. I don't mind acquiring a few new scars, but it's not like I'm trying to collect them."
Cupping her fiery cheeks, Orihime's eyes trembled as she replied, "I...I'm happy I could help...". Then, providing Ohta an unobstructed view of her ass, she leaped to her feet, exclaiming, "I need to check on something...!" before running off. In the wake of her departure, Yoruichi promptly asked if Ohta was enjoying the view. But, while he had, that didn't stop him from trying to drown the mischievous black furball...
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(A/N: Zaraki be like, "You should have gone for the head...")
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