__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
"Zaraki Kenpachi…"
"Are you ready to fight the First Kenpachi to the death?"
Long black hair fell over her shoulders. Unohana Retsu's eyes were steeped in bloodlust, and the faint curve of her lips carried a chilling implication.
As if to say—
She was about to slaughter Zaraki Kenpachi.
"Ha… that's a great look in your eyes!!!"
After barely three seconds of hesitation, Zaraki snapped out of the sheer whiplash caused by her transformation.
He was excited. Just like always.
He raised his zanpakutō, arm swinging up as the sharp tip leveled straight at Unohana, his challenge loud and fearless.
"Come on! Let's have a real, satisfying fight!"
"First Kenpachi or Eleventh Kenpachi, it doesn't matter. The winner walks out. The loser stays behind, locked forever in Muken!"
"You've been waiting for this too, haven't you?"
"First Kenpachi… Unohana Yachiru!"
...
As the ranking video played on, Zaraki's words were broadcast in real time to every corner of the world of the Shinigami.
And, as usual, it caused an earthquake.
"What?!"
"So it's really Captain Unohana?!"
"No way! That's impossible! Captain Unohana is so gentle. How could she be the brutal First Kenpachi?!"
"No… I can't accept this!"
…
Everyone was stunned.
Aside from a handful of people like the Head Captain, Kyōraku Shunsui, and Ukitake Jūshirō, the entirety of Seireitei and Soul Society erupted into disbelief.
Countless worldviews shattered on the spot.
Especially when they saw Unohana's current aura. That bone-chilling coldness and viciousness stood in horrifying contrast to her usual warmth and grace, leaving people utterly shaken.
...
Eleventh Division.
"No way!!!"
"This is absurd! Completely impossible to accept!!!"
In front of the translucent screen, which was locked onto Unohana Retsu's face in a clear close-up, Madarame Ikkaku screamed hysterically.
His eyes nearly popped out of his skull.
What was going on?
In the hearts of so many Shinigami, Captain Unohana was a figure of boundless maternal kindness, someone who had saved lives for hundreds of years.
So how could she suddenly be revealed as the First Kenpachi?
How could she possibly be that once-in-history monster?
Even with the truth laid bare, even after future Captain Zaraki himself confirmed her identity, Ikkaku still couldn't believe it.
His mind went blank. Without thinking, he raised his hand and slapped himself hard across the face.
Smack!
Only when the burning pain flared across his cheek did his expression freeze.
He slumped, utterly defeated, his voice hollow. "So… I really wasn't dreaming…"
Behind him, Zaraki Kenpachi was also uncharacteristically silent.
The man who lived and breathed battle, who reveled in slaughter, was now quiet. No grin, no wild excitement.
Only silence.
And thought.
Thoughts about this "Kenpachi duel."
After all, the title "Kenpachi" meant the strongest warrior in Soul Society. Singular. Absolute.
At any time, only the one who defeated the previous Kenpachi was worthy of inheriting the name.
So what did it mean when two Kenpachi met?
Even Zaraki, reckless and uninterested in thinking at the best of times, had understood the consequences the moment Unohana revealed herself.
A fight to the death. One falls.
To preserve a rule that had lasted a thousand years.
Between two Kenpachi, only one could walk out of Muken alive.
That was the price of being the strongest.
...
Sure enough, just as the real-world Zaraki wrestled with his emotions, the video showed Unohana making her move.
And Zaraki's answer was a vicious golden wave of sword pressure.
Clang!
Two zanpakutō crashed together. Blades met, sword energy exploded, and crushing spiritual pressure tore the surrounding air apart. Even the camera shook slightly under the impact.
"Zaraki Kenpachi…"
Despite her slender frame, Unohana stood firm behind her blade, Minazuki. Her eyes were like a bottomless abyss, ready to devour its prey. With a casual motion, she dispersed the raging spiritual pressure rushing toward her.
Her voice was cold, tinged with disappointment and disdain.
"Swordsmanship is not about relying on brute force alone. That's nothing but the behavior of a fool. And it only exposes more openings, just like you did just now."
Her emotionless words pierced like a needle straight into the bone.
"Unohana Yachiru, are you lecturing me? Don't make me laugh! I—"
"Hm?!"
His arrogant grin froze mid-sentence.
Before Zaraki could even finish his retort, his left shoulder exploded in pain. His shihakushō and captain's haori were ripped apart, revealing a deep gash nearly down to the bone. A pillar of blood shot up several meters into the air.
"Guh…"
A muffled groan escaped him.
Only when the agony hit did Zaraki realize something unbelievable.
He'd been cut without even noticing.
"Damn… I didn't feel it at all…"
He reached up, touching the wound, then looked down at his hand, slick with crimson.
Clenching his teeth, breathing in the metallic stench of blood, his expression shifted as he asked,
"Unohana Yachiru…"
"When… did you swing your sword?"
...
That question echoed the thoughts of everyone watching.
"That was way too fast!"
"Captain Unohana's strike was completely invisible. It felt like she didn't even move!" Hitsugaya Tōshirō stared in shock, his own left shoulder aching in phantom pain.
He'd been focused the entire time, eyes never leaving Unohana for even a moment.
And yet, he still couldn't see it.
Hitsugaya knew that if he had been the one struck, his entire shoulder would have been taken clean off.
"Captain…"
"Even now, I can't wrap my head around it. Is that shadowy woman in the video really the Captain Unohana we know?"
Matsumoto Rangiku's breathing was ragged as she stared at the screen, fear and doubt written plainly in her eyes.
As a fellow female Shinigami and a captain, she had always been close to Unohana. They worked together managing the Women's Shinigami Association, often sharing tea and quiet conversations in their free time.
That had gone on for decades.
In Rangiku's heart, Unohana Retsu's gentle, compassionate, almost motherly image was deeply engraved.
And now…
That same woman was standing in blood-soaked air, swinging her blade without hesitation, killing without blinking.
The contrast was devastating.
It hit her straight in the soul, nearly breaking her composure entirely.
…
Hitsugaya fell silent.
He had no idea how to comfort her. Truthfully, he himself was still lost, unable to understand what kind of future could have led to this.
What had happened…
To make Unohana Retsu reveal her identity and fight Zaraki Kenpachi to the death in the depths of Muken?
...
Thirteenth Division barracks.
"As expected…"
"Once she enters the state of the First Kenpachi, Unohana doesn't hold back at all. This is her true strength," Kyōraku Shunsui murmured, eyes fixed on the screen.
It wasn't just one cut.
In the brief moment he spoke, several more wounds appeared on Zaraki's body.
Shoulder. Arm. Waist. Leg.
In the blink of an eye, Zaraki Kenpachi was drenched head to toe in blood.
The beast hadn't even bared its fangs yet, and its tendons had already been ruthlessly severed.
That was the scene Kyōraku was witnessing.
Bloody. Brutal.
"Yes…" Ukitake Jūshirō said quietly. "Even though I saw her slaughter people countless times back then, seeing it again after a thousand years still makes me shiver."
Through the steam rising from his tea, goosebumps were visible along Ukitake's arm, his body trembling ever so slightly.
Old horrors had been dragged back to the surface.
Back then, Ukitake had only been a boy. He'd witnessed Unohana's massacres more than once and learned early on to fear that monster from a distance.
A thousand years later, the same dread welled up again.
Even now, after centuries as a captain, Ukitake felt deeply unsettled.
"Well, it can't be helped," Kyōraku said with a sigh, eyes heavy as they followed Unohana's merciless back. "After all, Unohana's swordsmanship stands above all of Soul Society."
He spoke slowly, deliberately.
"She's the only one in the history of the Gotei Thirteen to have mastered all ten levels of the sword."
...
Back to the video.
The duel between Kenpachi did not end with those bone-deep wounds.
Zaraki Kenpachi was, after all, the king of straight-up brawls. The man who had carved his way through countless enemies earlier in the rankings.
To him, injuries like these were nothing more than a mild itch.
"Tch…"
"Using this right at the start is pretty damn shameful in my book. But against you, I don't have a choice but to go all out…"
Bathed in blood, Zaraki tore off the eyepatch over his right eye and tossed it aside.
The moment it hit the ground, a pillar of golden spiritual pressure erupted from his body, instantly evaporating the blood clinging to him. His expression twisted back into savage delight.
"Oh?"
Unohana's face remained blank.
Her voice, steeped in malice, still carried nothing but contempt.
"Knowing your limits is commendable."
"But it does nothing to change your death."
…
Almost before those words could even reach Zaraki's ears, Unohana swung her blade again.
"Curved Blade Technique!"
In a single blink, Zaraki's pupils dilated to their limit.
He moved to raise his zanpakutō to block, but a searing, twisting pain exploded in his abdomen, overwhelming him.
"Damn it!"
His roar was weak, desperate, like the last struggle of a beast on the butcher's block.
Zaraki forced himself to look down.
There, buried in his stomach, was a blood-soaked blade curved like a crescent moon.
"Still… still too slow… to react…?"
His eyelids drooped. Each word he forced out was accompanied by a mouthful of blood.
Removing the eyepatch meant he was fighting at full strength.
And yet, he never imagined that such terrifying power could erupt from Unohana's slender body.
"Have you finally realized the gap between us?"
With her back to him, Unohana held her sword in one hand. The number "4" etched into her captain's haori stood out starkly amid the blood spraying through the air.
"You're too weak."
"Even without your eyepatch, your limits are laughable in my eyes. And someone like you has no right to bear the name Kenpachi."
…
As the final word faded, Unohana drew her blade back.
The bloodstained edge of Minazuki slid slowly out of Zaraki's body.
One strike. The end.
The battle of Kenpachi was over.
"..."
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________