Defeated Dog

Renji Abarai swung Zabimaru at Ichigo, but the attack did not even touch the corner of Ichigo's clothes. Ichigo simply dodged Renji's attack with ease.

"Your attacks are far too slow compared to theirs," Ichigo said. Ichigo's training team had been terrifyingly strong these past days; none of his training partners were opponents Renji could even compare to now.

How could Renji stand for that? It was bad enough that he could not take his opponent down easily, but now Ichigo was mocking him too. He stopped holding back, using Zabimaru to restrict Ichigo's movements while raising one hand in a blade-like gesture and muttering an incantation.

After a string of Way of Destruction chants, an unstable crimson spiritual pressure gathered in Renji's palm. "Way of Destruction No. 31: Red Fire Cannon!"

With Zabimaru limiting him, the Red Fire Cannon successfully struck Ichigo. Renji was not skilled in Kido, so the Red Fire Cannon inevitably injured his palm as well, but that did not matter. As long as the attack hit, it was enough.

"How was that?" Renji asked smugly. The Red Fire Cannon was no weak technique. By Renji's estimate, Ichigo should have at least been seriously injured.

Unfortunately, the rule that smoke meant no damage remained as reliable as ever. When the smoke cleared, Renji saw Ichigo holding up his blade to block. Before Ichigo's Zanpakuto, as broad as a door, the Red Fire Cannon had possessed no power at all.

A trace of disappointment flashed across Ichigo's face. He had not expected the Vice-Captains of the Soul Society to possess only this much strength. They were nowhere near as strong as those relics from the old era in the Visored.

Ichigo Flash Stepped in front of Renji. Spiritual pressure coiled around Zangetsu as he brought it down in a plain, straightforward slash. Ichigo had no intention of hurting Renji, and he had deliberately aimed for Renji's Zabimaru.

With a thud, Renji was cut out of the air by Ichigo's strike and crashed to the ground. He quickly struggled back to his feet, humiliation rising within him. He could hardly believe what expression he had seen on Ichigo's face. Was that pity for the weak?

Renji ground his teeth. Humiliation and rage surged through him together, and his gaze turned resolute as he called to Byakuya beside him, "Captain, I request the limiter be released!"

There were rules in the Soul Society. When Captain- and Vice-Captain-level Bleach came to the World of the Living, they had their squad emblems carved into their bodies as limiter seals to avoid causing unnecessary effects on the souls of the World of the Living. Their spiritual pressure would be restricted by eighty percent.

So Renji was nowhere near his peak right now. Clearly, he wanted the limiter removed to regain some face.

Byakuya glanced at Renji. In his current state, Renji was clearly no match for Ichigo. As a captain, since his subordinate wished to give it his all, Byakuya had no reason to stop him.

"Write your own report when we return."

Normally, releasing a limiter required reporting it to the Gotei 13 and receiving approval. There was obviously no time to file a report now, so Renji could only return to the Soul Society afterward and accept punishment himself.

After receiving Byakuya's answer, Renji pulled open the collar of his Shinigami Uniform. A squad emblem was carved onto his shoulder—the seal that restricted him.

Renji shouted for his limiter to be released and directly shattered the seal's restraints with his spiritual pressure. All of his spiritual pressure returned to him, multiplying his strength fivefold. Renji regained his confidence.

Zabimaru's attacks were as tricky as those of a spirit snake. Renji stepped through the air and launched a new round of attacks against Ichigo. This time, Ichigo could no longer remain as composed as before. At last, he felt some of the pressure worthy of a Vice-Captain from Renji.

"Give up. You have no chance of winning."

The more Renji fought, the more pleased he became. This was the fighting style he excelled at most: using Zabimaru's constant extension and retraction to assault the enemy without pause. Since Zabimaru's length and force were always changing, ordinary opponents found it difficult to locate Renji's openings amid those shifts in speed and rhythm. Ichigo was forced to fight while retreating.

"We're leaving." After glancing at the battle on Renji's side, Byakuya spoke to Rukia. Once the two of them passed through the Senkaimon, Renji would be able to stop and withdraw.

"Brother..."

Unlike Byakuya, Rukia knew that Ichigo had not used his full strength at all. But her hesitation drew a trace of dissatisfaction from Byakuya.

A hint of helplessness flashed through Byakuya's eyes. Rukia had to return to the Soul Society for him to have a chance to preserve her life. Otherwise, if he let her continue acting on her own and her crimes piled ever higher, even he, Byakuya Kuchiki, would eventually be powerless.

With that thought, Byakuya turned and reached out to seize Rukia. Since she was unwilling to return, he could only use force.

Ichigo had been keeping watch over Rukia's situation the entire time. When he saw Byakuya Kuchiki make his move, he could no longer keep tangling with Renji. He had to end this quickly.

Using an opportunity during a block, Ichigo twisted Zangetsu and pulled Zabimaru toward himself. Then he reached out and grabbed the extending section of Zabimaru. There was no blade at that point, so it would not hurt him.

When Zabimaru was caught, Renji did not panic in the slightest. Instead, he gave a light laugh. He flicked the hilt, and under his control, Zabimaru lashed out in an S-shaped wave toward Ichigo. If Ichigo did not let go, Zabimaru's fangs would teach him a harsh lesson.

Ichigo's grip on Zabimaru gave Renji the chance to hit him, but likewise, Renji, whose Zanpakuto had been caught, had no chance to escape. Visible blue spiritual pressure gathered around Zangetsu. This was the battle plan Ichigo had devised long ago.

"Run, Renji!"

Knowing Ichigo's strength, how could Rukia not know what he intended to do? She did not want Ichigo to be hurt, nor did she want her close friend to be injured.

Renji turned to glance in Rukia's direction. By the time he came back to his senses, Ichigo had already raised Zangetsu high and shouted, "Getsuga Tensho!"

A massive blue crescent tore through Karakura Town's night sky, shredding the rippling Zabimaru into fragments as it charged unstoppably toward Renji.

Warned by Rukia, Renji hastily raised his hand and gathered spiritual pressure, abandoning the chant entirely. Way of Destruction No. 31: Red Fire Cannon!

At the brink of life and death, Renji's potential erupted. His spiritual pressure was astonishingly stable, and the instantly formed Red Fire Cannon collided with the terrifying Getsuga Tensho directly before him. It bought Renji a small space to evade—at least, that was what Renji thought.

With a boom, the Getsuga Tensho was detonated by the Red Fire Cannon right in front of Renji. The violent explosion of spiritual pressure swallowed him whole. After a long while, a red figure fell from the smoke. Broken blade, torn clothes, disheveled hair—he collapsed helplessly onto the ground, unable to rise again.

"Renji!"

Rukia cried out and ran toward Renji. His loose red hair completely covered his face. Like a defeated dog, all that could be seen were the wounds covering his body.

Ichigo scratched his cheek awkwardly. To be honest, he had never intended to leave Renji in such a miserable state. According to his plan, that Getsuga Tensho should have cut through Renji's goggles, giving him a little taste of reality.

What Ichigo had not expected was that Renji would confront it head-on and detonate his spiritual pressure in front of himself, directly maximizing the damage. Forget cutting off his goggles—the goggles had turned to dust in the explosion, and Renji himself had been severely injured.

Ichigo met Byakuya Kuchiki's cold gaze. The piercing chill made him scramble to explain, "Um, would you believe me if I said it was an accident?"

"Words are useless. Scatter, Senbonzakura."

Byakuya believed only the facts before his eyes. Since his subordinate had lost, there was no reason for him as captain not to win back some face for Renji. Drawing his Zanpakuto, he released Senbonzakura with Shikai. Its blade transformed into sharp petals, and Byakuya pointed the empty hilt at Ichigo as Senbonzakura spiraled toward him.

"What a pain!"

In his haste, Ichigo clashed Zangetsu against Senbonzakura once. When he discovered that he could only cut down some of the petals, he decisively used Flash Step to open some distance. Zangetsu was a broad, heavy weapon, and it truly could not gain much advantage against a nimble Zanpakuto like Byakuya's.

Seeing Ichigo pull away, Byakuya remained unhurried. He stepped through the air as though ascending stairs, every movement displaying the bearing of nobility. His presence continued to rise.

Ichigo inwardly cursed. If he let Byakuya keep building momentum, the fight would become difficult. He had to interrupt Byakuya now.

"Getsuga Tensho!"

It was the same old move. This time, a horizontal crescent slashed directly toward Byakuya. Faced with the oncoming Getsuga Tensho, Byakuya did not move. With only a glance, he had Senbonzakura form a circular shield before him, blocking the Getsuga Tensho.

As Ichigo and Byakuya fought, Renji gradually woke up. Ignoring Rukia's panicked cries, he weakly lifted his eyelids and looked at Ichigo and Byakuya battling in the air.

Is the gap really that great? Why don't I have that kind of strength? I want to... I want to become one of them...

Renji was like a stray dog that could only raise its head to gaze at the sky, filled with longing for the heavens while he himself could only howl helplessly like a defeated dog. The true thoughts he had hidden away spread through his heart at that moment, just like his unrestrained long hair.

"Byakuya is still more experienced. With just an ordinary Getsuga Tensho, Ichigo won't be able to gain any advantage against Byakuya," Isshin said. As he spoke, he actually lit a cigarette. With Illusion protecting them, he could act without restraint.

"It has been two months. Ichigo's strength can't possibly be only at this level, can it?" Tsuna asked.

"Of course not! Tsuna, you brat, even if you look down on Ichigo, you can't look down on the coaching team I specially assembled for him!" Isshin sighed. He had run himself ragged these past days to strengthen Ichigo.

Gradually, Ichigo found the balance point for fighting Senbonzakura. Each time, he could strike and retreat before Senbonzakura surrounded him, never lingering.

But this roaming style could only ensure that Ichigo would not lose in the short term. It could not truly threaten Byakuya. Even a threefold Getsuga Tensho from someone as strong as Ichigo was easily neutralized by Byakuya.

"Against an opponent like Byakuya, either defeat him with speed he cannot react to, or break through Senbonzakura with an overwhelming attack he cannot defend against. Once it turns into a war of attrition, it becomes Byakuya's comfort zone. Both methods undoubtedly require Ichigo to erupt with his spiritual pressure once more," Tsuna said as he watched.

"Oh? It seems you already know, Tsuna," Urahara asked curiously.

"Know what?"

"Know that Ichigo has already chopped up my Zanpakuto Manifestation Device..."