Zaraki Kenpachi felt that perhaps today he had found one of his own—an equal who could fight him on level ground.
Facing his attacks, whether lethal or not, Asakura Yoh showed no intention of dodging, instead meeting them head-on with his body.
Although the principle behind it was a mystery, Yoh's physical toughness was undeniably high; Kenpachi's blade felt distinct resistance, though it had not yet reached the point of being completely unhackable.
By all rights, Yoh's body should have been reduced to a pile of mangled flesh by now, but strangely, every time his skin split and his flesh burst open, the wounds would heal instantly.
'Is it the effect of those flames?'
Having guessed that the flames possessed a healing property, Kenpachi did not feel it was unfair. On the contrary, he was delighted; the more tenacious the opponent, the longer he could savor the joy of battle.
At this moment, Asakura Yoh once again felt the sensation of dancing on the edge of a blade—the first time he had experienced this since that day six years ago.
The feeling of a cold blade piercing the heart or throat was never pleasant, yet curiously, he did not feel much pain, only a primal, instinctive rejection.
His body resisted the harm, while his will forcibly suppressed that survival instinct.
In this state, he could feel his mental strength soaring rapidly, expanding the Furyoku within his body.
This was one of his objectives, but he had no intention of remaining a mere target.
The massive stone tablet, wreathed in Furyoku flames, slammed violently into Kenpachi's waist. The heavy impact sent Kenpachi flying back, crashing through several walls before his hand clawed a long furrow into the ground to stop himself.
"Haha! Hahaha!! Just as I thought! Against you, I can use my full power, can't I!? Well!?"
Removing and tossing aside his right eye patch, the already terrifying Reiatsu on Kenpachi's body surged once more.
That eye patch was a tool he had the Department of Research and Development create to infinitely devour spiritual energy, aimed at suppressing his own overwhelming Reiatsu. The bells in his hair were also intended to let his opponents track his movements through sound.
All of this was preparation to allow enemies weaker than himself to better provide a fight.
The man before him certainly had no need for such handicaps.
With veins bulging in his arms, Asakura Yoh did not give Kenpachi a chance to catch his breath or adapt. Executing a Furyoku-enhanced Hirenkyaku, he appeared instantly before Kenpachi, delivering a heavy, unreserved blow aimed directly at the man's head.
Kenpachi laughed as he blocked with his chipped blade. The hand holding his sword trembled; he could feel a strong repulsive force radiating from the stone tablet, which was continuously decomposing the Reiatsu wrapped around his own blade.
He delivered a kick to Yoh's gut, but the latter did not dodge, tanking the move head-on.
Forcing down the upheaval of his internal organs and the stomach acid rising in his throat, Yoh twisted his waist, and the stone tablet in his hands shifted trajectory, swinging upward to strike Kenpachi's arm.
Kenpachi took the hit with his forearm. Through the conduction of his bones, he could hear the sound of his own arm snapping.
Flames crawled along the stone tablet and onto Kenpachi's body, the heatwaves continuously devouring his Reiatsu in an attempt to overwhelm him.
Ignoring the flames and the pain in his arm, Kenpachi took advantage of Yoh's unfinished recovery; his Zanpakuto sliced down from the juncture of Yoh's neck and shoulder, cutting straight toward the abdomen and waist.
Blood sprayed again, only to be evaporated mid-air by the flames. Yoh gritted his teeth and released the weapon, which had become too cumbersome at such close range.
His fists rained down on Kenpachi like a storm. Even though his hands had already shattered and healed several times over, he did not stop.
Taking the brunt of the assault, Kenpachi also abandoned his weapon. He curled his hand into a claw, firmly grabbing Yoh's head and slamming it violently into the ground, the sound of skull and earth cracking ringing out simultaneously.
In the crater where Yoh's head lay, his mouth opened and closed. Blood flowed from his every orifice, and his eyes rolled back.
"Did... did the Captain win?"
Madarame Ikkaku's lips trembled uncontrollably as he spoke, swallowing dryly. Although the battle had been short, it displayed an extreme level of violence he had never seen before.
Kenpachi picked up his even more chipped Zanpakuto. The madness receded from his face like a tide, replaced by regret and a lingering sense of unfulfillment.
"Hey, get up. There's no way you're only at this level, right?"
Kenpachi's tone was urgent, carrying a trace of fear he hadn't even noticed himself—the fear that Asakura Yoh might actually die just like that.
"What is the Captain saying? No matter how you look at it, that man... Asakura Yoh is already..."
Ayasegawa Yumichika was equally shaken by the battle, but looking at Asakura Yoh, who appeared deader than dead on the ground, he felt a bit of pity.
This Ryoka was truly strong, but unfortunately... he had run into their Captain, the man known as the Strongest Kenpachi.
But before anyone could agree with him, a powerful surge of energy suddenly erupted from the supposedly dead Asakura Yoh. This energy was far greater than anything he had shown before.
"How is this possible!?"
"That's it! That's more like it!!!"
A crazed smile climbed back onto Kenpachi's face. Watching Asakura Yoh slowly stand up, he was so excited he felt he might go mad.
This opponent was fantastic—he even reminded him of that woman!
Stretching his regenerated limbs and feeling his further increased Furyoku, Yoh was filled with emotion.
Shamans truly were those who dealt with death; the closer they came to the brink, the more power they could unleash.
'However, if I keep fighting like this...'
Noticing the increasing number of observers and seeing that the Furyoku in the stone tablet was significantly depleted, Yoh did a quick calculation and finally made a decision.
'I'd better "die" for a little while.'
"Hey, Kenpachi, how about we settle this with the next move?"
Yoh's suggestion did not excite Kenpachi; instead, it was a bit of a killjoy.
He had originally thought this battle could last much longer.
"Huh?! What kind of nonsense is that!?"
"My power is almost drained. You wouldn't want to win just by outlasting me through attrition, would you?"
"Tch, fine. Then..."
For the first time today, Kenpachi gripped his sword with both hands, slowly gathering his entire Reiatsu into this single strike.
Meanwhile, Asakura Yoh deactivated the Oversoul of the Hellfire Healing Garb, and Kurosaki Masaki's spirit appeared beside him.
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