"Ready!?"
Oh~!
The next day at noon, just as Ichigo suddenly woke up, they immediately launched a surprise attack. This was because most Soul Reaper were out patrolling at that time, Seireitei wouldn't stop its work just because of a few Ryoka.
Kūkaku's artillery skills were beyond doubt; she accurately sent the five people and one cat towards the Seireitei. Just as the cannonballs reached their halfway point, the Seireitei sounded the alarm.
"There's an alarm too!?" Ichigo shouted in frustration.
"Nonsense!" Yoruichi glanced at Ichigo. "What do you take Seireitei for?"
"Then what's the point of our surprise attack?!"
"Since the Soul Reaper are all on patrol right now, it's the time when there are the fewest people in the Seireitei. If we fall in the direction of the Thirteenth Division, we have a high chance of getting to where Rukia is."
"How do I do it?"
While Ichigo was still asking questions, the cannonball struck the Seireitei's protective barrier. The barrier formed by the Spirit Pearl Core canceled out the barrier of the Seireitei, resulting in a massive Explosion.
In the Explosion, Ichigo remembered to aim for the Thirteenth Division and be blasted away. He glanced at his surroundings and used Shunpo to adjust his position upwards. Yoruichi jumped onto Sado's shoulder, Uryū grabbed Orihime in a moment of urgency, Ganju himself was forgotten.
Then the impact came, and the five people and the cat were split into four groups and blown in four directions.
While Ichigo was being blasted into the air, he adjusted his position, choosing a spot that would send him flying upwards. This allowed him to continue moving through the air and clearly see the target's location.
However, this also made him clearly visible from the ground. Just as Ichigo was performing Shunpo towards his Shunpo, he noticed an even more powerful Shunpo rushing out simultaneously, right in his path.
Then it rushed over.
"???" Ichigo was completely bewildered and quickly continued on his way. However, something came crashing down on him from diagonally above and behind. The force was so powerful that it was impossible to ignore.
"You bastard!! You're so annoying!" Ichigo around and Getsuga Tenshō. He knew this guy was a formidable opponent, someone he couldn't easily defeat.
But what happened next shocked Ichigo. Getsuga Tenshō had been cleaved in two; the axe blade was larger than a person, the hairstyle resembled a peacock's tail, the obvious scars on his face, and the black eye patch—this was what Jun had told him before.
"Kenpachi Zaraki!!"
"Roar~! Do you know me?" Zaraki slammed his sword into Ichigo's, the two clashing in mid-air before Ichigo was slammed to the ground at the speed of light.
Kenpachi Zaraki paused briefly in the air, then gave chase at an even faster pace.
Ichigo crashed into the ground, creating a huge crater and feeling incredibly uncomfortable. Knowing the Ichigo was imminent, he suddenly unleashed his Spiritual Power to escape. Sure enough, the moment he left his original spot—no, he was blasted away by a gust of wind from a blade.
"What monster!?" Ichigo muttered to himself as Kenpachi Zaraki's sword was already upon him.
"Thank you for the compliment!!" Kenpachi Zaraki slammed Ichigo Kenpachi Zaraki further away with his sword, and the two fought their way out of the Thirteenth Division.
Within the Seireitei's topography, the Thirteenth Division is located at the highest point, followed by the nobles' residences. From the Thirteenth Division's position, one can overlook the entire Seireitei except for Sōkyoku Hill.
So, as the two fought, their position was about to drop again. Ichigo watched the tower that was so close getting further and further away. He had already reached the Twelfth Division! He was just one step away!
"Release! Tensa Zangetsu!"
Without hesitation, Ichigo activated his Shunpo. After releasing, his Ichigo had no cooldown and required no charging; his Release was unparalleled in its enhancement of Spiritual Flow energy. Ichigo Shunpo to appear before Kenpachi Zaraki Getsuga Tenshō at point-blank Kenpachi flying. The next moment, Ichigo was about to rescue Rukia when a Kongbu Reiatsu descended. Ichigo found himself almost unable to move; the surrounding Reishi was as thick as a wall.
Looking up, Kenpachi Zaraki stood high in the sky, his eyepatch gone. Kenpachi Zaraki grinned wickedly, looking down at them and saying, "Want to save people, huh? Kill me, and you can go wherever you want. Nobody will stop you anymore, hehehe~"
"You bastard!!" Ichigo's hand gripping his sword trembled. "Why are you stopping me! What grudge do you have against Rukia!? Don't you think this judgment is wrong!?"
"Huh?" Zaraki scratched his face. "What do all this have to do with me? What grudge could I possibly have against that little girl? I just want to fight! Isn't this the perfect state for you? By the way, are you the strongest among this group of Ryoka? If not, I'll go find the strongest one."
So the question is, is it or isn't it? Ichigo decided in less than a second, "I am the strongest! I'll defeat you, right!? I'll kill you, right!? Don't blame me if you die!!"
"How could this be!? Haha~!" Zaraki laughed wildly, "Come and kill me!! I couldn't be happier!! Come on! Let's fight!"
Ichigo instantly transformed into countless afterimages. In a sense, Tensa Zangetsu's speed was the fastest in Soul Society. The infinite Shunpo provided by his powerful Spiritual Flow gave Ichigo an unparalleled advantage in small to medium-range movement.
Let's say we're playing League of Legends' URF mode. Everyone knows how overpowered champions with mobility skills are, especially those with extremely short cooldowns. Ichigo is like that now; his mobility has zero cooldown and no limit on the number of uses.
Kenpachi Zaraki spun around, but found he couldn't keep up with Ichigo's speed. Suddenly, he turned and slashed, but only managed to strike an afterimage. Then, Kenpachi Zaraki unleashed his Spiritual Power Reiatsu, blasting Ichigo, who was attacking from above, away in the Explosion.
"Getsuga Tenshō!" The extremely enhanced Spiritual Flow allows Ichigo to shorten the charging time of Getsuga Tenshō to an unimaginable degree. After its release, each Getsuga Tenshō is a fully charged version of the Shikai. Furthermore, the Reiatsu increases during the release, so if the release is still charged, its power is truly immense. This particular attack is a non-charged version.
"Haha!!" Zaraki swung his Nogashira Nozarashi and slashed forward, meeting the Getsuga Tenshō head-on. Kenpachi Zaraki's powerful Reiatsu actually managed to withstand the Getsuga Tenshō, and he was then pulled further and further away by the attack.
So Ichigo followed up with three shots in one direction, aiming to push Kenpachi Zaraki far away, but at that moment, a gust of wind appeared, and Getsuga Tenshō were wiped out in a single strike.
Ichigo touched his chest with a pounding heart, feeling as if he had been killed a kilometer away, but then again, he was still alive—it was all an illusion.
A kilometer away, Kenpachi Zaraki was enveloped in a crimson Reiatsu, Blade Body sprouting from his head. His sword was broken, but he caught the broken piece and pressed it onto the broken blade. The next moment, he released the attack.
Kenpachi Zaraki used Shunpo to clash with Ichigo again, but this time it wasn't a powerful smash; it was a clash of strength. Zaraki's large face was right in front of Ichigo, and he was grinning broadly.
"You brat! I said I wanted to fight you to the death! And you think you can just run off to save someone?! Who gave you the guts?! Don't worry! I won't use any special attacks on you, because that's pointless. I want a real fight, not an instant kill! Hehehe~"
Ichigo's face darkened, his eyes blazing with fury. A surge of brute force erupted as he clashed swords with Kenpachi Zaraki matched. "If you really want to die! I'll grant your wish."
"Hahaha~", Zaraki laughed heartily, "Come on!!"
A surge of Black Spiritual Power blasted Kenpachi Zaraki away. Ichigo's left hand was completely tainted by the Black Spiritual Power, which then landed on his forehead and was pulled down sharply, revealing a black and red bone Hollowfication Mask with only the two vertical lines where the eyes were white, and Hollowfication Mask two bull horns on his forehead.
"Ugh~ Ah~ Ah~ Ah~ Ah~!" Ichigo roared wildly, his arms outstretched, his voice almost electronically processed.
"What is that!?" Kenpachi Zaraki was a little confused. "Hollow?"
However, just as he was wondering what was going on, a knife wound appeared in his abdomen, and he was almost cut in half at the waist. He turned around, Ox-Head Ichigo was already a kilometer away. In just a split second, he had gone from hundreds of meters in front of him to a kilometer behind him—in an instant...
Then he reappeared in front of him. Kenpachi Zaraki was about to attack, his right arm holding the sword was severed, Ox-Head Ichigo disappeared again.
Just as Ox-Head Ichigo was about to appear behind Kenpachi Zaraki Zaraki kill him, a golden light descended. Ox-Head Ichigo's sword slashed at Kenpachi Zaraki's neck, but it turned into a sponge, soft and harmless.
A burst of Spiritual Power picked up Kenpachi Zaraki's severed arm. Ichigo tore off his Hollowfication Mask and, together with Kenpachi Zaraki, looked at the newcomer. Jun opened his palm and waved, "Yo~"
"It's you!" Ichigo narrowed his eyes. "What are you up to now!?"
"It's nothing, just the referee. Go do your thing, Zaraki. You won this battle," Jun said with a smile. Kenpachi Zaraki clicked his tongue but didn't say anything.
Ichigo vanished Ichigo, still in his unlocked form; his speed was truly astounding.
Jun reattached his arm to Zaraki, Kaido the limb reattachment process. He activated his powerful Spiritual Power, and the arm was instantly reattached. Jun said mockingly, "You lost way too quickly."
What kind of power is that?
"Making excuses?"
Kenpachi Zaraki blushed slightly, a rare occurrence for him. "Of course not, I'm just curious."
"That's Hollowfication, which is basically Soul Reaper fusing Hollow power into its body. Do you want to try it?"
"Not now, is it?" Don't let Zaraki's carefree attitude fool you; he's actually quite intelligent. He just doesn't like thinking about trivial things, but that doesn't mean he's ignorant. He's the same type as Ichigo. Suddenly, Zaraki grinned, "That kid, Master, is really strong!"
Seeing that Zaraki's personality had returned to normal, Jun was relieved and smiled gently, "If you unleash your full power, he's no match for you."
"Hahaha," Zaraki shook his head, "I underestimated him. A loss is a loss, I won't make excuses. Master, if you have nothing else, I'll head back."
"There's something else, come out."
Kenpachi Zaraki followed Jun's gaze and saw a cute little girl with pink hair secretly watching the two of them in the alley between the 11th Division and Twelfth Division barracks.
Seeing the two looking over, the little girl waved her chubby little hands, "Ken-chan~"
Zaraki was stunned. "Ya-Ya-Chi-Ryu!?"
He looked at Jun questioningly. Little Yachiru came to Jun's side, and Jun smiled and said, "I preserved her humanity. Now she's a Mod Soul, and she doesn't have much of Soul Reaper power left. I didn't want her to come looking for you so soon, but the little one insisted on coming, so I couldn't stop her."
"Sword Sauce~"
"Ha~", Zaraki tilted his head, revealing his shoulder, "Come here."
Yachiru happily rushed over, and the big and small duo were reunited. How wonderful!