Outside the Seireitei, Kenpachi Zaraki wore a yellow construction hard hat, his spiked hair sticking through it and jingling with a "clink-clank."
Yachiru lay sprawled across his back, chewing sweet, delicious konpeito with an exceptionally radiant smile on her face.
Kenpachi, meanwhile, swung down his blade with a dark expression, cleanly chopping the massive tree before him—so thick it would take more than a dozen people holding hands to encircle it—in two. As the tree crashed down, Kenpachi hoisted it onto his shoulder and trudged heavily toward the distant lumber processing area.
A large group of Shinigami had gathered there. Though they all wore heavy hats, their faces were filled with eager smiles.
Seeing the huge tree Kenpachi had carried over, the Eleventh Division Shinigami praised him.
"Just as expected of the captain! He took down such a gigantic tree in one blow! If it were us, it'd take at least an entire afternoon to deal with this tree. We'd definitely fall behind the other divisions!"
"Yeah, yeah! If we get beaten by those sissies from the Sixth Division, I'll straight-up cry! We'd lose all our dignity as men!"
"Hahaha, crush those Sixth Division sissies! Let them know that our Eleventh Division is the backbone of the Gotei 13!"
Although the voices around him were noisy, the excitement within them eased Kenpachi's grim expression somewhat. He grinned at his subordinates.
"You lot! Put some spirit into it! Don't disgrace the Eleventh Division! Or I'll chop you up!"
Hearing that unusual encouragement, the Eleventh Division members actually shed tears of emotion and shouted in unison.
"Yes, Captain Zaraki!"
Soon afterward, another chorus of wailing and howling rose from the Eleventh Division's work area.
Watching the scene, Asano Kiyoshi could only smile helplessly.
Nel, standing beside Asano Kiyoshi, also looked somewhat helpless