"Gosuke, you're really surprising me more and more."
Mole City Kenpachi blocked Gosuke Shigure's blade with his Zanpakutō. He didn't care about the blood trickling from the corner of his mouth as he gazed at Gosuke, a faint note of admiration in his voice.
Gosuke Shigure did not press the attack.
After all, Kenpachi was still his captain, and the camaraderie they'd built over the past year couldn't be easily dismissed.
He didn't mind offering his captain a dignified defeat.
"It was just instinct."
Gosuke responded calmly, "Captain, your Zanpakutō's ability appears to be the fusion of your own spiritual essence into both organic and inorganic matter, allowing you to manipulate them remotely."
"Those multiple Kidō incantations… were achieved through that method."
"When I closed in with my blade, I could feel another will inside me… foreign, pressing against my own. It wasn't an illusion. That presence belonged to you."
Mole City Kenpachi didn't deny it. His silence confirmed the accuracy of Gosuke's deduction.
Privately, Kenpachi revised his opinion of his lieutenant upward once again.
Gosuke had deduced the nature of his Zanpakutō from a single encounter—despite Kenpachi never having released it before him.
Not only had his Zanpakutō been in its Bankai state since awakening, but he didn't even know its true release command or its Shikai name. Yet he could wield its power, a phenomenon almost unheard of.
To outside observers, such a Zanpakutō might appear dormant, but it was anything but.
A smile touched Gosuke's lips. "It's fortunate my Zanpakutō's ability counters yours. Otherwise, I wouldn't be standing here."
He didn't elaborate further.
Although curious, Kenpachi didn't press for details. Knowing Gosuke had survived was enough.
But he was still grievously wounded. The backlash from the spiritual fusion into Gosuke's body had shredded parts of his own spirit, nearly irreparably.
Kenpachi exhaled slowly.
"Gosuke—kill me."
His tone was flat. Not remorseful. Not fearful. Simply resolved.
He had always expected this path to end in death. When he began walking it—challenging the order of the Gotei 13—he had accepted the consequences. He just hadn't expected it to come from his own lieutenant.
But Gosuke's strength was undeniable now. His Zanpakutō, his mastery of Shunpo, his battle awareness—everything about him screamed potential.
Of course, part of the reason Kenpachi had ended up like this was because he'd misjudged Gosuke's power. And that mistake had cost him.
But regret was meaningless now.
Death at Gosuke's hand might be fitting. A final understanding.
"In the Seireitei, killing another Shinigami without authorization is a capital crime. But I'm Kenpachi."
"The law of Kenpachi is this—only the one who defeats the previous Kenpachi in battle inherits the title."
"That's how I took it from Tsukiyashiki."
"Now it's your turn. Kill me, and the title is yours."
Mole City Kenpachi's voice was calm, almost casual.
Gosuke didn't respond. He only smiled faintly.
"So that's your answer."
Kenpachi's grip tightened on his blade. With one final surge of Reiatsu, he launched himself at Gosuke, blade slashing.
If Gosuke would not answer in words, then Kenpachi would force a decision in battle.
His Reiatsu flared violently, concentrated into his blade—each slash a monstrous wave of pressure.
Gosuke remained in his Shikai state. The thunder cloaking his body accelerated every cell, stimulating muscle and nerve, granting him speed almost on par with Shihōin Yoruichi's Shunkō.
Unlike her, though, Gosuke's mobility didn't come from Kidō but from his Zanpakutō.
He vanished from Kenpachi's path with minimal motion, reappearing behind him.
And counterattacked.
His Zanpakutō, still crackling faintly with electric arcs, cut through the oncoming pressure and struck Kenpachi across the chest. His captain's white haori and the black Shihakushō beneath tore open, blood spraying into the air.
Kenpachi fell.
He didn't try to get up again.
"I lost."
Sprawled on the barren ground, his breath ragged, Kenpachi stared up at the cloudless sky. The sun above the 80th district of Rukongai seemed harsher than anywhere else in Soul Society.
And yet, even with that burning light overhead, he felt cold.
Some of that was the blood loss. The rest… was something deeper.
As the last of his strength faded, he thought of the thing he'd tried—and failed—to do. A will had intervened. Something absolute.
Even had he defeated Gosuke, he now knew he never would have succeeded.
Because that being—that thing—would not permit it.
"The Soul King…"
He muttered the name, not with reverence, but with resignation. For most Shinigami, the Soul King was a sacred, distant figure.
For Kenpachi, he was a barrier. One that could never be overcome.
He lay in the dirt, waiting for the final blow.
But it didn't come.
Gosuke Shigure remained standing, blade at the ready—but made no move.
Kenpachi blinked. Why?
He didn't understand Gosuke's intent, but he couldn't protest. The right of the victor was absolute.
Time passed in silence.
Then Gosuke spoke.
"They're here."
A shadow fell over the hill.
From the distance, a figure approached—bamboo hat tilted down, pink haori swaying, and twin ornate hairpins gleaming in the sun.
Gosuke narrowed his eyes.
It was Kyōraku Shunsui, Captain-Commander of the Gotei 13.