Chương 28: Baiting Kenpachi
"How is she doing this? How can she slip away from our surveillance so easily?"
"No matter how often you ask that question, you will always get the same answer from me: I don't know."
"Damn it; this is so annoying! Hopefully, his majesty won't blame us for this!"
"I don't think he will. The other teams that lost her got away scot-free as well."
"True; I guess his majesty simply doesn't care enough about that woman to be interested in her actions."
Deeply hidden in the shadow's of Seireitei, such a conversation is being held. Those living in Seireitei aren't aware of this, but there has been a foreign force watching them from the city's shadows for a long time now, only waiting for the right moment to strike.
Obviously, not every single Shinigami could be observed all the time, but at least those of significance had people watching them. So, when an intruder suddenly entered the city, some people became curious and started observing the intruder.
However, she was like a ghost, constantly evading surveillance just for her to pop up somewhere else a while later. At first, no one was too bothered by that. After all, those observing her were only doing so due to mild curiosity and weren't putting much effort in. However, their boss heard about the mysterious intruder and ordered people to watch her, but despite that, she still managed to slip away every time.
"Damn it, not only has she somehow spirited away a Lieutenant, she even got her hands on a Captain somehow! How does she do it!?"
"Again, I have no idea either."
Just like that, the conversation continued. On a side note, the disappearance of Hisoka wasn't noticed since her rank isn't high enough for her to be a target of observation.
Meanwhile, another day passed, and a huge man with spiky black hair wearing an eye patch was currently running through the street of Seireitei at high speed.
"Hahaha, turn right, Ken-chan."
"Are you sure you felt the intruder this time?"
"Hehe, yes, I'm sure."
Surprisingly, a small child was clinging to the man's back, occasionally directing the man in a random direction while laughing loudly.
This man was Zaraki Kenpachi, while the child on his back was Yachiru Kusajishi, his Lieutenant. When he first heard a report about an intruder defeating not one but two Lieutenants, he immediately became excited, hoping he found someone worth fighting.
So, as soon as he heard the report, he started randomly running through the city, looking for that supposed intruder. Then, things became even more confusing as Captain Unohana went missing as well. However, unlike with the two Lieutenant, the chance that the intruder was responsible for that was rather low. Even if she were a normal Captain, no one believed that an intruder could fight and defeat a captain in the middle of the city without alarming others.
Moments later, Kenpachi came to a halt as he reached a dead end, causing his eyebrows to twitch in irritation. Although he had taken breaks over the course of the last three days, he was still rather irritated that he hadn't found anyone yet.
"Hehe, oops, seems like I was mistaken. However, now I'm sure that the intruder is over there."
"What? Really? Very well."
Without questioning her for a second, Kenpachi immediately set off in the direction Yachiru was pointing at while childish giggles were constantly escaping her mouth.
Meanwhile, a pair of purple eyes were following the due with a hint of amusement in them.
'That guy is an idiot, isn't he?'
[Yup, there is no doubt about that. He is even worse at controlling his Spiritual Power than Ichigo.]
[Gah~ Idiot, Gahahahah~]
'Oh well, let's see if Retsu's words are true, and he is worth fighting.'
Minutes later, Kenpachi yet again stood in front of a wall as he reached another dead-end.
"Damn, wrong again!"
"Ken-chan, Ken-chan, this time, I really know where to go~"
Before Kenpachi could answer her, he felt the weight on his back vanish, making him frown.
"Hahaha, I got your loli~"
Kenpachi's frown deepened as he turned around and spotted a young woman with red and blue hair and purple eyes holding Yachiru up like a trophy.
"Wah, Ken-chan, I got kidnapped~"
Hearing Yachiru's carefree tone, Yuna couldn't only chuckle in amusement. Despite being captured, the was no tension in Yachiru's voice as she happily waved her arms at Kenpachi, like something incredible fun had just happened.
Despite her carefree attitude, Kenpachi wasn't happy with the current situation, causing his frown to deepen.
"You are the intruder, right? What was your name again? Yuna? Leave Yachiru alone and fight me."
"Sure, but only after you catch me, hahaha."
As soon as Yuna finished speaking, she turned around and ran away from Kenpachi while still holding onto Yachiru, causing her to laugh as well.
"Hehe, come Ken-chan, safe me~"
Seeing Yuna running away, Kenpachi clicked his tongue in annoyance and quickly ran after her while his mood soured.
'Does she want to lure me into a trap? How boring. Guess I can't expect much from this fight if she has to rely on traps.'
As Yuna was running, she let go of Yachiru's hips and simply placed her on her shoulder, where she happily sat down while occasionally cheering on Kenpachi, telling him to run faster.
"Hahaha, this feels different from riding Ken-chan!"
Hearing the little girl's words, Yuna almost tripped while running but managed to catch herself before that could happen.
[Honestly?]
'Hey, humans usually don't talk about "riding" other humans. It's only natural for the unspeakable to briefly pass through my mind when hearing stuff like that.'
[Sure, tell that to the police.]
'Besides, that little girl might look young, but she is easily over 100 years old.'
[I can already hear the sirens.]
[Gah~ Yuna, prison?]
'Don't worry, Chaos, they will never catch me.'
[I'll snitch you the first chance I get.]
'Snitches get... turned into women and are forced to join my harem.'
[Pretty sure that saying goes differently.]
[Snitches get stitches, gah~]
'That's right, Chaos. However, in my case, the stitches won't be done with a knife, hehe~'
As the trio was talking, Yuna reached her destination: An unsuspicious wall that looked exactly like the ones beside it. However, as soon as Yuna had put some of her Spiritual Power into it, it opened up, revealing a familiar secret passage. Naturally, this was the entrance to Kisuke's secret training ground.
"Whoa~ So awesome!"
Yachiru became excited as soon as the passage opened as stars appeared in her eyes.
"Ken-chan, it's a secret passage! That's so cool! Quickly come here and take a look!"
Meanwhile, Kenpachi couldn't help but frown when he heard Yachiru talking about a secret passage. He, as a captain, didn't know anything about any secret passages within the city, so he really wondered where it came from. After thinking about it for a short moment, he came to the conclusion that he must have simply not paid attention when it was mentioned, which, considering he never paid much attention during the gathering of the other Captains, was very likely.
So, without any further delays, Kenpachi charged into the passage right after Yuna while already expecting a plethora of traps ahead of him. However, he easily crossed through the passage without any trouble and reached a vast snow-covered cave a few seconds later.
'This must be where she has prepared her traps. However, how is it snowing in here? Aren't we underground?'
Kenpachi quickly dismissed these thoughts as his gaze wandered through the cave, and as soon as he saw a certain individual, his face split into a massive grin.
Underneath a small pavilion that seemed to be entirely made out of ice, a mature woman was comfortably resting on a recliner, blankets covering her, while a steaming cup was placed in her hands.
"Yachiru Unohana."
Retsu Unohana, or as she previously called herself, Yachiru Unohana, was the person Kenpachi respected the most. She was the first person he had ever felt fear towards and the only one who had ever truly fought with him to the limit. Seeing her being one of the captains, Kenpachi wanted to challenge her numerous times, but due to some rules or whatever, his request was always denied. Kenpachi couldn't give a shit about rules and regulations, but Unohana herself was apparently rather vehement about fighting Kenpachi, so there was nothing he could do but wait patiently.
He didn't really get what was going on, but considering he had just entered a secret passage and Unohana suddenly appeared in front of him, how could he not assume that it was finally time for him to battle her again?
However, as he was lost in thought, a snowball hit the side of his face, causing him to frown. He looked at the source of the snowball and saw Yachiru pouting at him.
"Ken-chan, I'm still kidnapped! Why aren't you trying to save me?"
Hearing Yachiru's words, Kenpachi's eyebrow twitched a little as he looked at the "kidnapped" Yachiru. She was currently wearing thick clothes while comfortably sitting on Yuna's shoulder, as a woman he didn't know handed her another snowball, while another woman, whom he identified as the "missing" Lieutenant, was approaching that group with a tray filled with steaming cups.
Dodging the second snowball thrown at him, Kenpachi's frown deepened as his gaze landed on Retsu, who he assumed to be the preparator.
"What is going on here? I do want to fight you again, but what is with all the extras?"
Hearing Kenpachi's words, Retsu chuckled in amusement as she calmly took another sip from her drink, sighing in satisfaction.
"Although I wouldn't mind fighting you to the death, today you won't be fighting me, but Yuna instead."
Hearing Retsu's words, Kenpachi couldn't help but be dissatisfied as he dodged the third snowball thrown by Yachiru.
"I don't mind fighting the intruder, but the one I truly want to fight is you."
Retsu nodded in understanding as she leisurely closed her eyes and answered Kenpachi.
"In that case, how about this: If you can defeat her, I'm willing to fight you after that. Naturally, if you were weakened after fighting Yuna, I'll even give you as much time as you need to get back to your peak strength."
A massive grin appeared on Kenpachi's face as he eagerly nodded his head. Finally, he could get another chance to fight Retsu. He had waited centuries for this. And all he had to do was defeat a single intruder. Although Kenpachi had no doubts that Yuna was strong due to defeating two Lieutenant, in the end, he didn't believe that she could match the power of a Captain. He might not have a Bankai himself, but he was fully aware of the massive gap between Shikai and Bankai, so even if it was a Lieutenant, as long as they had no Bankai, he didn't care about them.
"Hehe, so I just have to defeat her to finally have my fight with you; very well, let's do it!"
As Kenpachi became excited, he focused back on Yuna, who still had Yachiru sitting on her shoulder. By now, she had stopped throwing snowballs at Kenpachi and was instead happily drinking from a cup that clearly had something warm inside it.
Frankly, Kenpachi had not the slightest clue what was going on here, but he couldn't care less. Yachiru clearly was safe, and there was a potential good fight, followed by his dream fight in front of him. Why would he bother thinking too deeply about this? It was the time to fight, not to think!
As these thoughts crossed his mind, his Spiritual Pressure erupted out of him, covering the whole cave instantly. To Kenpachi's delight, Yuna didn't even flinch when his Spiritual Pressure washed over her, and to his surprise, the unknown woman didn't flinch either.
'Oh? This might be more interesting than I thought. Who is that unknown woman? Maybe I should fight her as well? Mhh, a two vs one?'
As these thoughts crossed his mind, Yuna picked up Yachiru and placed her on the unknown woman's shoulder, and moments later, Yuna mimicked Kenpachi's action, unleashing her Spiritual Pressure, easily contesting with Kenpachi's.
Feeling the powerful force pressing down on him, Kenpachi could help it as a massive smile appeared on his face as the thought of a two vs one battle evaporated instantly. He felt that Yuna was someone worthy of fighting, and a two vs one would just delude the experience.
"Nice Spiritual Pressure~"
As those words left his mouth, his grin took on a pinch of insanity as he opened his Shihakusho further, revealing more of his chest.
"Very good. This might actually be fun. Come! I'll give you a freebie! Cut me anywhere you want!"
As soon as those words left Kenpachi's mouth, a chill went through Hisoka's spine, causing Yachiru, who was sitting on her shoulder, to tilt her head in confusion.
"Is something wrong, weird-eyes-girl?"
Hisoka smiled wryly at that sudden nickname but decided not to bother about it as her eyes were fixated on Yuna.
"There are a few things that should never be done in this world, and one of these things is looking down on Yuna-sensei. Despite her carefree attitude, there is one thing that no one is allowed to make fun of: Her strength."
As soon as Hisoka finished speaking, Yuna's Spiritual Pressure erupted like a volcano, instantly turning everything around her into ice as the mild snowfall in the cave intensified and turned into an actual blizzard. Moments later, Yuna's words echoed through the cave; although they seemed to be spoken quietly, barely louder than a whisper, everyone could clearly hear them.
"Are you looking down on me? Who do you think this venerable one is? A smelly little brat like you dares to talk to me like that?! YOU ARE COURTING DEATH!!!"
Yuna's Spiritual Pressure increased even further, causing the ground around her to crack as space itself seemed to tremble. While Hisoka and Rangiku did their best not to fall to their knees, while Hisoka was shielding Yachiru to some degree, Retsu's face twisted into an insane grin as she looked at Yuna with nothing but pure lust. Whether that lust was sexual or a desire for battle was rather hard to discern, as Retsu seemed to deprive the greatest pleasures from battles rather than sexual activities.
On the other hand, Kenpachi couldn't help but be dumbfounded as incomprehensible amounts of Spiritual Pressure crashed into him. The only time he had ever felt this much pressure was when he was facing Retsu all these years ago. Or at least, that is how he perceived it.
'What the hell is this? What's with this pressure? It's amazing! To think that there was someone else who would put this kind of pressure on me! I just can't help it! Feeling this kind of heavy Spiritual Pressure, I can't help but get excited!'
"HAHAHAHA, WHAT NICE SPIRITUAL PRESSURE!!! I'M GETTING EXCITED!!!"
However, hearing Kenpachi's words, Yuan couldn't care less. He had insulted her strength, and he needed to pay for that. So, without anyone in the room realizing what was going on, Yuna vanished from her position and appeared in front of Kenpachi, who was still spreading his Shihakusho widely, expecting an attack.
Before Kenpachi could understand what was going on, a fist smashed into his stomach, instantly causing him to cough out some blood, while his body was flung away, crashing into the cave's wall with a loud boom.
A few seconds later, the dust settled, revealing an unconscious Kenpachi who had blood flowing out of his mouth.
"Pathetic."
Yuna said a single word, yet it seemed to cast an oppressive silence onto everyone present, causing them to lower their heads.
"No way, Ken-chan lost instantly? That can't be right!"
Hearing Yachiru's words, Yuna chuckled in amusement as she shrugged her shoulders.
"It's only natural for him to lose instantly. After all, he is subconsciously holding back to a frankly ridiculous degree. Retsu, can I count on you for this?"
While Retsu went to work to heal Kenpachi up to his peak, Hisoka couldn't help but sigh in relief. Clearly, Yuna didn't take Kenpachi's words too seriously; otherwise, she would have definitely killed Kenpachi instantly. After all, the current Kenpachi lost against Ichigo, who couldn't even use his Bakai. Hisoka was fully aware that that kind of power level was insignificant to Yuna.
'Eh? So Ken-chan was holding back? I see, so it's like that! I really hope that Ken-chan will be able to have a good fight! Otherwise, it wouldn't be fun at all!'
Hearing Yachiru's words, Yuna chuckled in amusement as she observed Retsu healing Kenpachi back to his peak within a short moment.
"Well, it will take a while, but I'm sure that he will sooner or later get the fight he carves for so heavily. For now, let's continue killing him~"
As those words left her mouth, Rangiku, Hisoka, and as a result of Hisoka moving, Yachiru instantly took some distance from Yuna, as the pressure oozing out of her increased even further. Retsu, on the other hand, smiled wildly as her face was twisted in pure insanity.
'Ahh~ This is bad~ I'm getting too excited~ If she continues being like that, I might actually jump her~'
Meanwhile, Kenpachi abruptly opened his eyes, and the first thing he saw was his sword clashing with Yuna's, confusing him greatly.
'What is going on? I felt like I was knocked out just now. No, it's impossible for me to get knocked out with a single attack. I see; I must have just been hallucinating. Right, I was just enjoying fighting Yuna; there is no point in getting distracted by random illusions. All I have to do, for now, is enjoy the fight!'
As those thoughts passed Kenpachi's mind, he regained his focus as he withdrew his blade from the clash with Yuna's and slashed at her again.
Seeing Kenpachi's actions, Yuna simply shook her head, easily dodging Kenpachi's strike and slicing her blade upwards, cutting his neck and dealing a fatal injury...
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