First Meeting with Kenpachi

When Ye Yang heard Little Shaoling say that, his heart trembled. Was he supposed to teach such a young child everything the Punishment Force practiced? The Punishment Force's training was cruel for a child. At that moment, Ye Yang was full of hesitation, but when he saw the expectant look in Little Shaoling's eyes, he couldn't bring himself to refuse.

At that thought, Ye Yang suddenly made up his mind and said, "Little Shaoling, although I can't teach you the Punishment Force's training methods, I can teach you something else."

Ye Yang had his own thoughts on the matter. He couldn't bring himself to teach the Punishment Force's training methods to such an innocent, carefree girl, but he didn't want to refuse her request either. So Ye Yang decided to teach her one of his own martial arts, and he had already decided which one.

When Little Shaoling heard that Ye Yang wouldn't teach her the Punishment Force's training methods, disappointment plainly showed in her eyes. But when she heard that he would teach her something else, she asked curiously, "What is it?"

Ye Yang smiled. "Something good, of course. If you master it, I believe it'll be a great help when you join the Punishment Force."

Hearing that it would help her join the Punishment Force, Little Shaoling's face lit up again. "Yay! Big brother, teach me that, then. Oh, right, big brother, you still haven't told me your name. I can't keep calling you big brother forever."

Ye Yang patted Shaoling's head and said, "I'm a Soul Reaper in the Second Division. Maybe you'll see me again someday, Little Shaoling. And my name is Ye Yang. You can call me Brother Ye Yang from now on."

Little Shaoling said in her clear voice, "Okay, Brother Ye Yang." Then she asked him, "What are you going to teach me, Brother Ye Yang?"

"Bajiquan!"

Little Shaoling immediately became interested. "What's Bajiquan?"

Ye Yang began to explain. "Simply put, Bajiquan uses every part of the body in combat. Its training calls for bringing the use of eight body parts—the head, shoulders, elbows, hands, tail, hips, knees, and feet—to the utmost, hence the name Bajiquan! Bajiquan takes the head and feet as heaven and earth, the shoulders, knees, elbows, and hips as the four directions, the arms opposed before and behind, and the dantian holding the primordial essence at the center as the meaning behind its founding. Intent guides qi, qi drives power, the three levels and six points unite inside and out. Its momentum is majestic, power issues in all eight directions, the whole body is an eye, the whole body is a hand. Movement brings change, change brings transformation, transformation brings fluidity, and its wonders are endless."

Never mind a child as young as Little Shaoling—even an adult wouldn't have understood. Sure enough, Little Shaoling looked bewildered, completely lost.

Ye Yang smiled. "What's wrong? Don't understand? It's all right. I'll teach you bit by bit."

She nodded, only half understanding. "Thank you, Brother Ye Yang. Then, when do we start?"

Ye Yang patted her head and said, "There's no hurry. Tomorrow, come to a grove north of Seireien, and I'll teach you. For now, I'll take you home."

"There's no need, Brother Ye Yang. I can go back by myself."

Ye Yang thought for a moment and said, "All right." After all, if he took Little Shaoling home and ran into the head of the Fon Clan, he might be recognized. Ye Yang didn't want Shaoling to learn his identity so soon.

After watching Little Shaoling walk away, Ye Yang was at a loss. Where should he go now? Should he find Urahara for a drink? Suddenly, a thought occurred to him. It seems I haven't been to the districts farther back in Rukongai. I haven't been to any district beyond District 10.

Having made up his mind, Ye Yang used Shunpo to go straight to District 11 of Rukongai. Both public order and living conditions were much worse here than in District 1, where living conditions were practically the same as in Seireien. Still, overall, things here were fairly good.

Ye Yang then used Shunpo. Rukongai was simply too large; without Shunpo, heaven knew when he would finish walking through it. Whenever he reached a district, he stayed for a few minutes before moving on. As the district numbers grew higher, the residents' standard of living grew steadily worse. By the time Ye Yang passed District 50, the area was essentially a slum. Many people fought over water because they had none to drink. Fortunately, there were hardly any Pluses with spiritual power here, so they weren't in danger of starving to death.

By the time Ye Yang reached District 78, he was shocked. Food and water were in critically short supply. People fighting over them could be seen everywhere on the streets, and deaths were nothing unusual.

Ye Yang frowned, his thoughts unknown. Then he left District 78 and went to District 79—the Kusajishi District.

The word "chaos" could no longer describe this place. It ranked second among Rukongai's districts for the worst public order. Murders were common, and killings over food and water could be seen everywhere. Life seemed so fragile.

Ye Yang walked casually down the main road. Although the people around him gave him strange looks, none of them made a move. No one who survived here was a fool. Judging by Ye Yang's clothes and his fearless manner, he was certainly not someone they could afford to provoke. Besides, Ye Yang had just spent a night killing, and the killing intent around him was intense. People who lived in a district like this couldn't fail to recognize it, so no one dared come up and provoke him.

Suddenly, Ye Yang sensed a presence. If he wasn't mistaken, two people were fighting, and one of them was so powerful that even Ye Yang could sense it.

Without wasting time, Ye Yang used Shunpo to reach the scene of the fight. A bald man wielding an Asauchi was fighting a tall man, while a long-haired man stood nearby watching.

From the fight, Ye Yang could tell that the tall man wasn't using his full strength. He wore nothing but ragged clothes, and the blade of the Asauchi in his hand was covered in chips, clearly the result of countless battles. His long black hair hung loosely over his shoulders, and a vicious scar on the left side of his face made him look particularly frightening.

Familiar with the story, Ye Yang knew who he was at a glance. That was right: the eleventh Kenpachi, Kenpachi Zaraki!

As for the bald man, he should be Ikkaku Madarame, and the long-haired man was Yumichika Ayasegawa.

The fight continued, but the outcome was already clear. Even though Ikkaku Madarame used every trick he had, he couldn't do anything to Kenpachi Zaraki. Kenpachi Zaraki, on the other hand, looked completely relaxed and clearly had strength to spare. Perhaps because Kenpachi Zaraki enjoyed fighting, the two fought for more than an hour. Finally, he seemed to have had enough and struck Ikkaku Madarame down with a single slash, leaving him unable to fight.

After watching the fight, Ye Yang was about to leave when someone called out to him. "Hey! You, kid over there!"

"Are you talking to me?" Ye Yang asked, pointing at himself.

Kenpachi Zaraki's wild voice rang out. "You, of course. Is there anyone else here?"

Ye Yang turned his head, still smiling. "What is it?"

Kenpachi Zaraki laughed wildly. "Hahahaha... I can feel the killing intent coming off you. With that much killing intent, you must be strong. I want to fight you to the death!"

"I refuse!"

At that moment, a little pink bundle jumped onto Ye Yang's shoulder. It was none other than Yachiru Kusajishi.

"No, Little Whitey, you can't do that~ Kenny's fighting spirit has already been awakened. Nobody can stop him now," the rosy-cheeked Yachiru said in her doll-like voice.

A huge sweat drop appeared on Ye Yang's head. Can someone tell me what's with Little Whitey? Even if I'm dressed all in white today, that's no way to make up a nickname, is it? He did know about Yachiru's habit of giving people nicknames, though.

"Please don't call me that. My name is Ye Yang Shihoin," Ye Yang said frankly. He wasn't worried about being recognized here.

Yachiru raised her little hand. "Then how about Little Ye-Yе?"

Ye Yang was helpless. It was better than the first one, wasn't it? "Yeah, yeah!"

Kenpachi Zaraki pointed his Asauchi at Ye Yang. "Let's begin. Yachiru, move aside."

Hearing that, the little girl immediately left Ye Yang's shoulder and moved to a safe place. "Little Ye-Yе, make sure you fight seriously~ I haven't seen Kenny this excited in a long time."

Ye Yang smiled wryly. It seemed the fight was unavoidable. He drew his Zanpakuto and said, "If you want to fight, then I'll fight!" As he spoke, the fire of battle also flared in his eyes. If we're going to fight, let's have a good one!

"That's the kind of opponent I knew you were!" Kenpachi Zaraki charged forward with a wild laugh.

Seeing this, Ye Yang met Kenpachi Zaraki without fear, and the two fought. When they first clashed, Ye Yang didn't use any sword technique; he only wanted to test Kenpachi Zaraki's strength first.

Ye Yang soon fell on the defensive. He found that Kenpachi Zaraki's slashes weren't particularly skillful, but every blow carried tremendous force and came extremely fast. His slashes seemed to follow no pattern, yet they were so difficult to deal with.

As time passed, his slashes grew faster and more powerful. Seeing a slash coming, Ye Yang used the Tai Chi Sword Technique to deflect it and dissipate its force, then drove his sword hilt toward Kenpachi Zaraki's chest. But Kenpachi Zaraki held his sword in one hand, leaving his left hand free to block Ye Yang's hilt. Ye Yang smiled faintly, and Zaraki cried inwardly, This is bad! But it was too late. Ye Yang turned his wrist and slashed upward, cutting a wound across the left side of Kenpachi Zaraki's chest.

The two instantly put distance between them. Kenpachi Zaraki touched his wound with his left hand, but instead of looking disappointed, he burst out laughing. "Hahahaha... Ye Yang Shihoin, you're worthy of being the opponent I had my eye on. You really do have some skill. Let's go again!"

A tremendous spiritual pressure suddenly erupted from Kenpachi Zaraki, leaving Ikkaku Madarame and Yumichika Ayasegawa struggling to breathe. Lying on the ground, Ikkaku Madarame murmured, "Is this his real strength? Only now do I know how great the gap between us is. But in that case, it should be over now, shouldn't it?"

Beside him, Yumichika Ayasegawa shook his head at his friend. "Not yet. Look!"