In the empty pit, the air suddenly froze as Nobu moved.
The instant their sword guards clashed, the sound of metal meeting metal transformed into a shockwave visible to the naked eye, cracking the ground beneath them into spiderweb-like fissures.
The burst of reiatsu made the air around them seem to grow thicker, denser.
Sparks flew as they locked eyes. Nobu's blade glowed like a crescent moon dipped in water, slicing straight for Unohana's throat with a sharp whistle that split the air.
Unohana Retsu leaned backward, narrowly evading the blade's edge, her Zanpakutō arcing upward to retaliate—only to be deftly intercepted by Nobu's sword hilt just before reaching his shihakushō.
Strength and speed—just barely acceptable.
Unohana lowered her gaze slightly, silently assessing.
At her level, battles of pure swordsmanship boiled down to those two factors.
If Nobu's speed couldn't match hers, no matter how refined his swordsmanship was, it would be meaningless. She could effortlessly neutralize his every strike and defeat him before he even realized what had happened.
Fortunately, Nobu wasn't that inferior.
Is he testing me?
She flicked her wrist slightly, redirecting Nobu's asauchi, and lunged her Zanpakutō toward his heart in a fluid movement. Nobu's pupils constricted, swiftly twisting his sword to deflect the attack, then instantly retreating several meters away.
"What's wrong?"
Unohana spoke expressionlessly, giving her Zanpakutō a small flick.
"If you planned to test my abilities first, I advise you abandon that thought. You'll die."
She wouldn't hold back.
Nobu glanced briefly at the sword in her hand, tightening his grip on the asauchi. "Seems I was foolish, treating you the same as others, Taichō."
Just now, Unohana had clearly seen through an opening in his swordplay. Luckily, his reaction had been swift—or rather, Unohana hadn't yet been fully serious—allowing him to evade.
For the first time in ages, someone had spotted a flaw in his blade. In his battles against Ikkaku, Ichimaru Gin, even Zaraki Kenpachi, he'd always dominated entirely through sheer swordsmanship, overwhelming his opponents without fail.
Thus, he'd unconsciously assumed Unohana was like them.
But he'd nearly paid dearly for that assumption.
Even though, strictly speaking, getting hit wouldn't actually injure him.
Still, at least for now, Nobu wanted a pure clash of swords with Unohana Retsu.
Unohana Retsu—once named Unohana Yachiru—clearly didn't gain that name merely due to the number of lives she'd taken.
Her sword was something distinctly different.
Nobu resumed his stance, his aura now markedly more restrained.
Unohana's expression remained unchanged, sword at the ready. Suddenly, Nobu's figure flashed toward her with increased speed. Compared to moments ago, he seemed quicker—but in Unohana's eyes, it wasn't significantly different.
Bang!
As their blades met again, a muffled blast resonated. Unohana's white haori fluttered wildly in the rush of air. Her counterattack twisted back like a serpent's fang, striking precisely at Nobu's throat.
Cling—
Yet her strike was deflected by the asauchi moving along an uncanny trajectory. Nobu's assault suddenly intensified, countless blades of wind cutting wildly before Unohana's eyes, the flashes of silver-white making her vision blur.
But she saw each strike clearly, parrying each calmly, her reiatsu erupting and scattering rubble across the ground.
Two figures blinked and flashed through the wreckage, their sword lights weaving into a shimmering silver net.
Unohana's toes barely touched a stone before it silently crumbled into powder beneath her feet. Each of Nobu's heavy strikes tore anguished cries from the air, the earth shattering violently with every landing.
The pit echoed relentlessly with metallic clangs. As their exchanges continued, Unohana gradually sensed something was amiss—Nobu's attacks grew faster and sharper, yet he showed no openings at all. He'd become like a shield bristling with spikes, leaving her no room to attack, forcing her onto the defensive.
Luckily, she was still quicker. Otherwise, this ferocious assault would undoubtedly force openings in her defense.
Just as this thought arose, Nobu's plain asauchi sliced upward from an impossibly cunning angle.
This strike exceeded her expectations, the sudden shift causing her pupils to constrict sharply. The blade wind sliced off a lock of her dark hair, which disintegrated into reishi dust before hitting the ground.
Unohana's mind raced like lightning, swiftly retreating while thrusting her Zanpakutō at Nobu's chest.
Clang!
Metal collided again; Nobu had blocked it.
Unohana used the momentum to withdraw several meters, raising her Zanpakutō instinctively into a defensive position.
After a brief silence, she said slowly, "Your swordsmanship has indeed changed slightly compared to earlier."
Nobu gently ran his left hand along the cold blade. "Are you finding fewer openings now, Taichō?"
Unohana said flatly, "Your swordsmanship is exceptional, I'll grant that. But battle isn't decided solely by the sword. The gap between us—do you truly think swordsmanship alone can bridge it?"
Boom!
From Unohana Retsu's body erupted a blast of spiritual pressure so immense it became a visible column of light, spearing upward until it struck an invisible barrier high above and stopped.
The dense, overwhelming weight of it was like nothing Nobu had ever felt. Stones leapt from the ground only to hang suspended midair.
For those without spiritual power, prolonged exposure to such reiatsu would cause the body to collapse.
That was why Soul Society separated Seireitei from Rukongai. If someone without reiryoku were to take this pressure head‑on, they would die instantly.
"I advise Taichō not to unleash all of your reiatsu," Nobu said slowly, as though entirely unaffected.
"This space can't withstand it. If people outside notice, it'll ruin the mood."
He knew Onmitsukidō had been watching him. By now they'd already discovered he was gone; the Sōtaichō likely knew as well.
How long they could keep fighting here, even Nobu didn't know.
Unohana's eyes flickered. "So this is your trick—trying to suppress my reiatsu to match your own?"
Third‑Class Reiatsu Authority. The bare threshold of a captain. In front of her, such a level was little more than a slightly larger ant.
"Taichō misunderstands."
Nobu pointed at the invisible barrier above, where her spiritual pressure hammered like a storm. "That's my Zanpakutō's ability. Without it, your reiatsu would've already burst past the limits of this space. Even with this extra layer of protection, there's a limit. At your level, you could still break it."
Unohana's lips curved faintly in a dry smile. "In the end, you understand the gap between us and want to use this as an excuse to force me into close combat."
But Nobu's expression stayed steady. "If Taichō insists on thinking so, there's nothing I can do. Holding up the barrier while fighting you is exhausting enough. Let's waste less breath."
A cold light flashed in Unohana's eyes. She heard what he was implying—almost as if she were the one taking advantage.
That mouth of his… truly irritating.
She didn't argue. Instead, she lifted her Zanpakutō slightly and darted at him. Her speed defied description, leaving only an afterimage in Nobu's sight.
But Nobu reacted first, slipping past her thrust. Unohana twisted her wrist mid‑strike, her blade slashing diagonally, reiatsu surging so strongly the sword pressure became visible and collided with Nobu's blade before she herself closed in.
Bang!
Nobu was driven back several meters. He'd barely regained footing when Unohana closed the gap again. Before he could see her face clearly, her coldly glinting blade was already at his throat.
Clang!
Blocked again.
Unohana's eyes darkened further. From within her voluminous sleeve, her left hand flicked—lightning‑quick—a small blade shooting for Nobu's shoulder.
No one would ever imagine she kept such a dagger hidden there.
But what she hadn't imagined was this: her perfectly timed surprise attack was caught mid‑motion as Nobu's other hand shot up and clamped down on her wrist.
Impossible!
A flicker of shock flashed through her eyes. In that heartbeat of distraction, Nobu's sword knocked hers aside, slicing open her pure white haori, tearing through her shihakushō, and with a wet sound, cut into her collarbone.
Beads of blood rolled down the spine of his blade. Warmth spilled from the wound at her left shoulder; pain narrowed her pupils to pinpoints.
She swung her sword sharply, knocking the asauchi away.
Shhh—
Blood sprayed. Nobu, having landed his blow, didn't relent. He twisted his wrist for a horizontal slash. Unohana blocked with her blade and used the impact to retreat several dozen meters.
Her chest rose and fell. The arm at her wounded collarbone trembled slightly beyond her control.
Reishi in the pit began to roil and churn. Nobu's silhouette wavered within the haze, the edge of his asauchi dragging motes of light behind it like a phantom moving between real and unreal.
Blood continued to flow from the wound, soaking the snowy white of her captain's haori.
When she looked at Nobu again, her eyes were wide now, flickering with new meaning.
That hidden dagger strike had been ninety percent certain—almost guaranteed.
And yet he'd blocked it.
Why…
He couldn't have known. Did he react in the instant she moved?
But his speed was nowhere near hers.
Unohana couldn't make sense of it. The shock slowed her thoughts for a heartbeat.
Looking back, he'd blocked all her attacks—including the opening she'd exploited at the start.
She began to understand what Nobu had meant about "treating you like someone else."
Her breathing steadied. Green light flared in her left hand as her healing reiatsu wrapped the wound.
"I admit it now. I underestimated you," she said quietly.
As the first Kenpachi, she possessed the highest level of sword mastery—Jūdan. Her swordsmanship stood at the very peak of Soul Society.
She could read anyone's blade.
In her exchange with Nobu, his techniques weren't anything arcane—slash and cut, as any swordsman would. She could see every stroke. But she couldn't predict where the next one would come from, forced to rely on her superior speed to respond in time.
He, on the other hand, though slower than her, seemed to know exactly where her next strike would be.
This sword‑intent beyond temporal perception made her wonder if it was some ability of his Zanpakutō.
Otherwise, could a human truly do this?
Nobu slowly shook his head. "Taichō, you still haven't seen clearly."
As he spoke, he slid the asauchi back into its sheath.
"I said before, I don't believe I'll lose—to anyone. That's why I can cut through everything."
Unohana's eyes fixed on his movements, watching him settle into an iaijutsu stance.
She remembered then—she had seen this before, in his combat footage: a single slash that cleaved a Menos.
She'd also watched from the sidelines during his sparring matches.
His fights with Madarame Ikkaku, with Ichimaru Gin.
Sword energy tearing the sky without reiatsu.
Unohana halted her unfinished healing. Without noticing, her body had already tensed.
Shhh!
Nobu's figure vanished from where he stood, shunpō pounding the hard ground. A clear ring of steel—his long blade leaving the sheath.
"[Yasha Shinkū]!"
The blade drew a crescent arc before Unohana, less than two meters away, and from its cold gleam a tangible wave of sword pressure burst forth.
Unohana's reiatsu surged, ready to block. But the instant she saw that sword pressure, a chill crept over her entire body. Instinct screamed—this attack must not be stopped!
She had seen it before, leaving scars on the pillars of the Killing Stone.
Watching from afar and facing it herself were two entirely different things. This sword pressure was aimed at her.
Lightning‑quick, she flash‑stepped aside. But just as she landed, Nobu appeared at her new position as if he had already locked onto it, his asauchi cutting down.
She blocked, then suddenly released her weight backward, the blade grazing her nose as she twisted and aimed her own strike at his flank.
It was an impossibly tricky angle, but Nobu bent his knees and leapt, her blade slicing only the air beneath his feet.
Unohana steadied herself, then leapt into the air. Her sword tip carved a crescent downward. As Nobu raised his blade to block, their reiatsu collided in a circular blast, shredding the ground for a hundred meters around into flying rubble.
Boom!
As Nobu was thrown back, another arc of sword energy shot toward her.
Unohana stared hard at the approaching blade, feeling the same sensation as before.
This sword energy could cut her in half on the spot.
Just as it left marks on the Killing Stone, it could also ignore the reiatsu density of her body itself.
She imagined her body being torn apart by that sword energy—and in that instant, she didn't feel the exhilaration she'd once imagined, the satisfaction of a death longed for finally arriving.
All she felt was a biological, instinctive fear.
That fear drove her whole being to want to flee, to avoid that slash.
This… is his sword?
---
bonus chaps
100 stones -> 1 chapter
200 stones -> 2 chapters
300 stones -> 3 chapters
and so on
discord.gg/wisetl
patreon.com/wisetl