"Captain Zaraki, you are the captain of the Eleventh Division, and Nan Yecheng is just a student who graduated from Shin'ō Academy.
Given the difference in your statuses, a fight between you two wouldn't be in accordance with the rules, right? If it's a training session within your division, a captain training his own members is considered normal training.
But I believe Nan Yecheng is not a member of your division, is he?"
Seeing Retsu Unohana, who was smiling like a [Yamato Nadeshiko], Kenpachi Zaraki showed a look of genuine disgust.
It's not that Kenpachi Zaraki hates Retsu Unohana as a person, but that he hates the current Retsu Unohana.
Many people in the Seireitei might not know it, but Kenpachi Zaraki and Retsu Unohana are old acquaintances.
Kenpachi Zaraki was born in the most chaotic and sordid area of North Rukongai, District 80, [Kenpachi District]. He was originally a nameless commoner and later took "Zaraki" as his own name.
When the first captain of the Eleventh Division, Retsu Unohana, went to the outskirts of the Rukongai to find a fierce warrior she admired, the sight that met her eyes was a mountain of corpses of Rukongai commoners, all killed by Kenpachi's blade.
Retsu Unohana went forward to inspect, but was suddenly stabbed below the collarbone by Kenpachi Zaraki, who had suddenly appeared.
The two then engaged in a fierce battle. In the end, Kenpachi Zaraki was wounded on his left cheek by her blade. This is the origin of Retsu Unohana's collarbone scar and Kenpachi Zaraki's left cheek scar.
In that battle, Kenpachi Zaraki experienced the fear and joy of fighting for the first time. He was afraid that if he lost such an "enemy," he would lose the joy of fighting.
So, to match Retsu Unohana's strength, he unconsciously weakened himself to the same level as his "enemy."
The outcome of that battle is unknown, but judging from the result, Retsu Unohana should be considered to have lost, because Kenpachi Zaraki at the time was constantly suppressing his own power while fighting.
Of course, Retsu Unohana at the time did not release her Zanpakutō, but fought Kenpachi Zaraki with her [Asauchi].
But even so, the Retsu Unohana of that time was known as the strongest "first Kenpachi," a woman whose swordsmanship was so strong she was called "Yachiru." Yet, in the end, she had to be suppressed in strength by a boy to barely be on equal footing!
It was after that, when Retsu Unohana returned from the Rukongai, that she voluntarily resigned from her position as the captain of the Eleventh Division, believing she was not worthy of the title of "Kenpachi," the strongest swordsman.
Her personality then changed dramatically, and she became the captain of the Fourth Division, a position she has held ever since.
Kenpachi Zaraki does not hate Retsu Unohana; in fact, he holds her in great respect. The reason he became a Shinigami and came to the Seireitei was largely due to her influence.
But Kenpachi Zaraki hates the current Retsu Unohana, because he knows she has been pretending. She is clearly a person who, like him, has a crazy beast living inside her, but Retsu Unohana has locked the beast in a cage and faces the world with a "false" face.
"Tch, what a pain. You, that guy named Nan Yecheng, you haven't officially joined the Fourth Division yet, have you? Why don't you just come to our Eleventh Division? I heard from Ikkaku that you're also from North Rukongai, and your strength is quite good.
You now have two choices. The first is to join the Eleventh Division and fight me officially, which will save us both a lot of trouble, and I won't have to listen to the old man's nagging. The other choice is that even if you join the Fourth Division, I will still come and fight you.
As long as I make sure you're still alive, at most, I'll be punished by the old man. I don't care anyway."
Hearing Kenpachi Zaraki's words, which were not much different from a threat, Yecheng's expression instantly froze on his face. He then used his peripheral vision to glance at a certain bald head opposite him.
And that bald head in the group opposite, probably feeling guilty, didn't dare to look directly into Yecheng's eyes, and simply lowered his head, answering Yecheng with his shiny bald head.
"Captain Zaraki, this Shinigami named Nan Yecheng has already decided to join our Fourth Division, and your current behavior is clearly out of line. Can I consider your actions as the Eleventh Division provoking our Fourth Division?"
Although Unohana looks gentle and elegant, in reality, she has never been a good-tempered person. With a beast living in her heart, it's a common occurrence for her to [turn evil] from time to time.
She was being kind, yet he ignored it, and now he is even threatening a future member of her division right in front of her. If Retsu Unohana were to remain indifferent, she wouldn't be the former strongest Kenpachi.
"Interesting. If you're willing to be my fighting opponent, wouldn't that be even more exciting?! This powerful spiritual pressure... It's been a long time. I didn't come to the Seireitei to be a Shinigami anyway. It seems I'll get what I want now!"
"Jingle—jingle—jingle—jingle!"
As the spiritual pressure from Retsu Unohana was released, the bells tied to the ends of Kenpachi Zaraki's hair began to jingle and shake.
Due to his unique physique, although Kenpachi Zaraki's own spiritual pressure is incredibly powerful, he himself does not have the ability to sense spiritual pressure. This is why he styled his hair into spikes and tied bells to the ends.
The purpose of this is to judge the spiritual pressure of his opponent by the sway of the bells and determine how much power he should use to have a good fight.
And seeing the bells on his hair swaying wildly as if in a hurricane, Kenpachi Zaraki's face also showed an extremely excited and battle-ready expression.
Clearly, the intensity of the spiritual pressure Retsu Unohana just released made him incredibly satisfied, and even made his blood boil for the first time in a long time!
So, without any hesitation, Kenpachi Zaraki also reached out and tore off the eye patch on his right eye, which was used to seal his spiritual pressure.
As soon as the eye patch that sealed his spiritual pressure was removed, Kenpachi Zaraki's spiritual pressure immediately burst forth like a tide. The powerful, almost solid, spiritual pressure directly turned into a golden pillar, shooting up from the Fourth Division's recruitment point!
Retsu Unohana didn't intend to have a conflict with Kenpachi Zaraki and his group, but the powerful spiritual pressure that Kenpachi Zaraki just released ignited her long-dormant fighting spirit. When she came to her senses, she was surprised to find that a corresponding pillar of spiritual pressure had also erupted from her body.
The two powerful spiritual pressures of the captains collided. The immense spiritual pressure was like a tidal wave, and Yecheng and the others were like small boats in the middle of the tide, ready to be capsized at any moment.
Being in the midst of these two extremely strong spiritual pressures, Yecheng and Yachiru were still in good shape. Although they were affected, it wasn't aimed at them, and their spiritual pressure wasn't weak, so they could still stand upright.
Ikkaku and Yumichika's spiritual pressure is not weak, but as rookies who just came out of Shin'ō Academy, they had never seen such a high-level fight. So, at this moment, their backs were bent and their faces were flushed as they tried desperately to stand straight.
As for Isane Kotetsu... the [miss] had already given up resisting and was lying on the ground.