Kenpachi Azashiro didn't utter a single word.
From his demeanor alone, he seemed like the type of man who reveled in the paradox of Versailles-style modesty—someone who downplayed his power while casually showcasing it.
First, he claimed that becoming a 'Kenpachi' was easy. Then, he added that he didn't particularly enjoy close-quarters combat. But when Mazuru actually fought him, he discovered a very different reality: Kenpachi Azashiro's swordsmanship was monstrous.
It was as if every Kenpachi—no matter how much they claimed otherwise—was born to excel in close combat.
Especially when paired with that unique Zanpakutō. A blade that wasn't just forged steel, but a weapon formed from pure, condensed reiatsu pushed to its absolute limit. Even a casual swing from him was a terrifying strike of immense magnitude. Each slash he delivered shook the battlefield, carving the air and space with precision and explosive power.
This didn't just affirm his cutting prowess—it proved something even more critical: his reiatsu was unimaginably dense and vast.
But when you traced back his origin, none of this should have come as a surprise.
He was, after all, a former prisoner of the Muken, the deepest level of the Central Underground Prison. No one made it to Muken without being an irredeemably powerful threat. You had to be strong—dangerously strong—to even warrant that kind of containment.
As Mazuru dodged one of Kenpachi Azashiro's terrifying slashes, he simultaneously raised his own Reiatsu. The blade in his hand—his Chi no Kawa—began to glow with a deep crimson hue, gradually brightening until it blazed like a blood-red comet.
This weapon was neither a standard Zanpakutō nor an arrancar's typical Resurrección. After the climactic battle in Hueco Mundo over a year ago—when Yamamoto Genryusai's final Bankai incinerated his Zanpakutō beyond repair—Mazuru had abandoned the traditional blade. His power, instead, had found a new vessel.
That vessel was something very close to an arrancar's Resurrección, but not at the same time. It carried no formal classification, but it inherited the full might of his original Zanpakutō—perhaps even surpassed it.
Mazuru swung.
A crimson wave of spiritual pressure surged forth, colliding with the raw Reiatsu of Kenpachi Azashiro.
*BOOM!!*
The impact was earth-shattering. The entire battlefield rippled outward. The yellow sands that surrounded them were blasted away in a roaring storm of spirit energy. At the epicenter, the ground collapsed inward, forming a massive basin.
Inside it, Kenpachi Azashiro stood tall, blade in hand. He darted forward with fluid mastery of Shunpo, and his figure clashed with Mazuru mid-air.
*Boom! Boom! Boom!*
The sounds of their sword strikes echoed like thunder. Each clash sent tremors through the ground. They danced through the battlefield—two titans trading blows at unimaginable speed. Reiatsu flared with each motion, as though spiritual energy itself had been weaponized.
Amidst the fray, Azashiro's voice rang out, deep and steady.
"To be honest." he said, parrying one of Mazuru's strikes, "I don't really like fighting people like you."
There was a rare hint of vulnerability in his tone.
It wasn't just Mazuru's technique. His reiatsu was off the charts—dense, chaotic, and seemingly impenetrable. That complicated everything.
Azashiro's Zanpakutō had a unique ability: it allowed him to merge with non-living spirit matter around him and manipulate it as an extension of himself. He could turn the battlefield into his domain, his very limbs, launching invisible attacks from every direction.
But that ability had a fatal flaw—it was utterly ineffective against opponents with overwhelmingly high reiatsu.
The reason was simple: low-density spirit particles could not influence or damage high-density reiatsu. Just as a stick couldn't dent steel, his spirit-based manipulation couldn't pierce someone like Mazuru.
That was why his earlier attempt at embedding invisible air blades into Mazuru's body had failed. The moment they entered, Mazuru's spiritual pressure rejected them.
"But even if you don't like it." Mazuru said with a calm smile, delivering a devastating slash that cracked Azashiro's blade, "Aren't we still fighting?"
"That's right."
Azashiro's voice turned grave.
And then, his eyes narrowed.
"It's time."
Mazuru's expression shifted.
"Hm?"
Something inside him felt… wrong.
His instincts screamed. For just a moment, it felt as if another consciousness had wormed its way inside his body, like a parasite. It tried to seize control alongside his own will. Though it only lasted for a second, that brief lapse was enough—the grip of his reiatsu weakened.
In that window, the previously expelled air blade reactivated inside his organs, causing internal havoc.
Mazuru staggered.
His breathing slowed. His reiatsu flickered.
Pain erupted from within—deep, soul-cutting pain.
Kenpachi Azashiro watched silently, not surprised in the slightest. "I never liked using this technique—whether it was on the last Kenpachi or on you—but I'm left with no other option. It's the only way I might defeat you."
It was the same method he had used two hundred and fifty years ago to kill the last Kenpachi.
Mazuru, enduring the internal onslaught, clenched his jaw and glared. "I really want to know—how did you do that?"
Azashiro gave a small, grim nod.
"It's not particularly difficult." he said. "My Zanpakutō allows me to merge my spiritual essence with non-living materials. But when pushed, I can merge small portions of my soul with that of living beings—like you. From there, I manipulate the fused spirit particles from within."
He paused, then added, "Of course, there's a price."
Mazuru exhaled slowly, the pain already starting to subside. "Even if there's a price… as long as it kills the enemy, it's worth it, right?"
Azashiro nodded solemnly. "Exactly. But it seems that this time... it didn't work."
He could see it now.
Mazuru had expelled the fusion. His reiatsu surged again. The momentary damage to his internal organs—already healing. And what was even more terrifying—his High-Speed Regeneration.
The Menos Grande species couldn't typically regenerate damaged internal organs. Even elite arrancar like Ulquiorra couldn't fully recover from such wounds.
But Mazuru wasn't a typical arrancar.
His regeneration, inherited from Beelzebub, bore eerie similarities to Kurosaki Ichigo's post-hollowfication state. Even fatal wounds healed at breakneck speed.
On the other hand, Kenpachi Azashiro wasn't so lucky.
The act of merging spirit particles with a living being had backlash. As Mazuru's injuries reversed, the damage was reflected back onto Kenpachi. His body trembled. Blood began to seep from unseen wounds.
Two hundred and fifty years ago, this technique had exchanged injury for death. Back then, it worked.
This time, the result was reversed.
He was the one suffering.
But there was no panic in his eyes. No fear.
Only calm.
Mazuru took a step forward, blade raised for the finishing blow.
In that moment—
*Whoosh!*
Azashiro's figure vanished without a trace.
*****
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