Hmm... Rampage really suited Kenpachi.
It was just that Kenpachi's defenses weren't actually weak. He just tended to lose a lot of blood, which might have left people with the impression that his defenses were poor.
Or was it a reference to that legendary 2D side-scrolling fighting game, Berserker?
At least Rampage said that it "greatly increased strength and speed" while "decreasing intelligence and defense."
In other words, the increases were greater than the decreases.
And don't forget, Gaoyu had previously acquired the All-rounder ability. When he activated Rampage, he could pair it with All-rounder. The massive boost to strength and speed would make up for the drop in intelligence and defense, and then some.
Combining Soul Abilities often produced even better results. Gaoyu really wanted to get this ability.
Well...
Time to start swinging!
As long as he gave Kenpachi Zaraki a satisfying fight, raising his approval wouldn't be too difficult.
The Twelfth Division Captain, Mayuri Kurotsuchi, had the ability "Biological Modification."
"Biological Modification: By spending varying amounts of spiritual pressure and time according to one's wishes, one can modify living beings to a certain degree."
"Note: The subject must possess a certain degree of aptitude for this modification."
Mayuri was a master of biotechnology. Most of his inventions involved biology; he had even modified his own Zanpakuto.
If Gaoyu acquired this ability, could he modify his own Zanpakuto the way Mayuri had?
But Mayuri was also incredibly difficult to win over. Getting his approval was practically impossible. He was on the same level as Yamamoto and Aizen—no, given Mayuri's personality, he might be even harder to win over than those two.
Even if you helped him complete an experiment, he'd probably just think you were in the way. So Gaoyu basically ruled him out.
The last Captain was