!
Whoosh—
At the edge of the enormous crater, Kusajishi Yachiru appeared out of thin air. Shock and worry filled her eyes as she stared at the crater. But with a thunderous boom, her worry turned to joy. She rushed straight toward the person rising from the ruins below.
"Little Ken!"
Kenpachi had just gotten to his feet when he suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood. When she reached him, Yachiru finally noticed the hideous wound on the right side of his abdomen.
Blood streamed rapidly from the wound like a river, pooling at his feet in the blink of an eye!
"Little Ken, are you all right?" Yachiru came up beside him, her small face full of worry as she looked at the wound.
Kenpachi shook his head without answering. Instead, he took a couple of steps to the side, reached into the dirt, and pulled a blood-soaked figure out of the ruins.
Yachiru came over and pressed a finger to Wu Biao's face. "Is he... dead?"
"Rrrr..."
A deafening snore rang out.
"..."
Yachiru's mouth twitched slightly. Then she looked at Kenpachi and smiled. "Little Ken, you won again! As expected, you're the best—"
"I lost!"
Kenpachi said the words calmly. A trace of bitterness flashed in his eyes as he looked at Wu Biao in his arms. "That last punch, he deliberately missed. But even just grazing past me left me badly wounded. If I'd taken it head-on... I'd probably be dead!"
Yachiru froze at his words, staring blankly at Kenpachi. She had no idea what to say now... Comforting him was something Little Ken would never need!
"Sure enough, I still hate idiots who don't finish the job at a crucial moment!"
"Should we kill him?"
Kenpachi shook his head. "Take him to the 4th Division..."
Thump—
Before he could finish, Kenpachi's eyes rolled back and he collapsed too!
The next day, southern Seireitei.
Boom—
With a loud explosion, a squad of patrolling Shinigami was blasted away by a bright blue shock wave. Sado's tall figure moved slowly forward, his gaze fixed on Senzaikyu in the distance.
According to the information he'd gotten from the Shinigami he'd defeated earlier, Rukia was being held there. That meant if he headed toward it, he would surely meet up with Ichigo and the others!
"Not bad!"
Just then, a voice interrupted Sado's thoughts. He looked toward the sound and saw a middle-aged man in a pink haori sitting cross-legged on the ground, a jug of wine in front of him. It was as if he'd been waiting there for Sado to arrive.
When the man saw Sado looking at him, he smiled warmly. "Nice to meet you. I'm Shunsui Kyoraku, captain of the 8th Division."
In the underground sewers in western Seireitei, Kurosaki Ichigo, Shiba Ganju, and Yamada Hanataro were ready to go.
Yesterday's battle with Renji Abarai had left Ichigo badly injured and unconscious.
Fortunately, Hanataro was there. With his healing Zanpakuto, Hisagomaru, which could absorb damage, Ichigo's injuries had mostly healed after just one night.
But as soon as they emerged from the sewers, they ran into someone familiar at the site of Ichigo's battle with Renji—or, more accurately, a familiar cat.
"Mr. Yoruichi, what are you doing here?" Ichigo and Ganju both looked delighted. After all, other than Wu Biao, Yoruichi was the first of their companions they'd encountered!
Yoruichi glared at Ichigo in exasperation. "I don't even know what to say to you. Didn't I tell you? If you run into a Captain-level opponent, don't hesitate—turn around and run. And yet you actually fought a captain. You're lucky you didn't die this time."
"Huh?"
Hearing Yoruichi's words, Ichigo couldn't help but freeze. He scratched his head without thinking. "I only fought Renji, who's a lieutenant. I haven't fought any captain... Wait a minute..."
As he spoke, Ichigo's expression changed. He suddenly remembered what Wu Biao had said before leaving when Ichigo met Renji yesterday. Could it be...
"Were you the one who fought Zaraki?" Yoruichi furrowed her brows slightly. She'd been in northern Seireitei yesterday and had felt Kenpachi Zaraki's spiritual pressure surge into the sky. It had filled her with unease.
She'd hurried all the way here, assuming Ichigo had fought Kenpachi Zaraki. But from Ichigo's reaction, he clearly had no idea what had happened!
And... now that she thought about it, there really hadn't been any trace of Ichigo's spiritual pressure at the battlefield. There'd only been Kenpachi's.
No trace of spiritual pressure.
Yet someone had still fought Kenpachi. Could it be...
"It was Brother Biao!" Ichigo immediately said the name she was thinking of. "Yesterday, while I was fighting someone called Renji Abarai, Brother Biao seemed to sense something. He said, 'I smell one of my kind,' and ran off. He still hasn't come back!"
The smell of one of his kind...
Yoruichi's mouth twitched. What did that even mean? Was that bastard a beast or something? Though... if it was Kenpachi, that description was pretty fitting. They were both battle maniacs.
But he still hadn't come back?
Yoruichi's expression grew serious. That kid was strong, but his opponent had been Kenpachi Zaraki!
Seeing Yoruichi's grave expression, Ichigo's heart sank. "Is that Kenpachi guy really strong?"
"Kenpachi Zaraki is the captain of the 11th Division, and the 11th Division is the combat division of the Gotei 13. Kenpachi Zaraki lives for battle. To him, fighting is a pleasure, and all his battles are for the sake of enjoying that pleasure even more. In that respect, he's a lot like your Brother Biao!"
A captain?
Ichigo couldn't help remembering Byakuya Kuchiki, whom he'd encountered in the World of the Living. The moment he thought of Brother Biao's opponent as a captain on the same level as Byakuya Kuchiki, his heart filled with worry!
"What about Brother Biao, Mr. Yoruichi? Have you seen him?"
Yoruichi shook her head. "I don't know. I followed the traces of spiritual pressure to the battlefield... but I didn't find anything." As she spoke, a trace of shock appeared on her catlike face. Even she couldn't help wondering what sort of battle could have left such a devastating scene.
"Kenpachi is a terrifying man. He's the only person in the Gotei 13 to become a captain without achieving Bankai. His strength seems to have no limits. The stronger his opponent, the stronger he becomes so he can enjoy the battle even more. You could say he was born to fight."
Hearing Yoruichi's serious explanation, Ichigo grew even more worried. His face filled with uncertainty. If something had happened to Brother Biao...
No. That was impossible!
"Mr. Yoruichi, can you take me to the battlefield? Maybe I can figure out where Brother Biao went!" Ichigo's expression turned serious. He glanced toward Senzaikyu in the distance with a trace of apology, but his voice was utterly determined.
Yoruichi shook her head. "There's no time. You're all coming with me now. You can also start the next stage of training Urahara prepared for you!"
"But Brother Biao..."
"That kid won't die so easily. I searched around the area and didn't find his body."
Yoruichi looked up at the sky as dusk began to fall, then continued. "He either went somewhere to recover after fighting Kenpachi, or he was captured. If he was captured, he shouldn't be in any danger."
Ichigo's face was still full of uncertainty, but it disappeared when he heard Yoruichi's next words.
"You're still too weak. If you can't master Bankai, you don't stand a chance against a captain-level Shinigami. Never mind saving that kid—you won't even be able to save Rukia!"
Inside a quiet prison.
Several beds stood in one corner of the cell. A bald man lay on one of them with his eyes shut, snoring like rolling thunder. The sound was truly deafening.
Just how loud was it? One glance at Sado on the neighboring bed, with dark circles under his eyes and tears of despair in them, was enough to tell.
Sado swore that if the guy hadn't looked as weak as a dead man when he was brought in, he would've already slapped that shiny bald head of his...
"Rrrr... Let my Cosmo explode!"
The snoring stopped abruptly. Wu Biao's hand clenched, and the next second he sprang out of bed, staring fiercely around him. "Villains, prepare to face the punishment of justice!"
Silence. Utter silence...
About two seconds later, Wu Biao looked around in confusion, then glanced at the handcuffs on his wrist. His face was full of bewilderment. "Where the hell am I?"
"A prison!" a faint voice echoed through the cell.
"Holy crap, what the hell? What kind of demon are you? Come out and fight me if you've got the guts!"
"..." Sado, standing behind Wu Biao, twitched his mouth and patted him on the shoulder.
Wu Biao spun around in a flash. When he saw Sado behind him, he let out a long breath. "It's you. You scared the hell out of me. I thought the place was haunted... Wait, no..."
Brother Biao wore a thoughtful expression as he rubbed his chin. Then he clapped his hands. "No, wait, this place seems to have nothing but ghosts! Hahahaha! I'm so smart. There's only one truth: Big Guy, you're human!"
"..." Sado.
Grrr...
"Hey, Big Guy, do you have anything to eat?"
"No!"
"How could you..." Wu Biao immediately crumpled to the floor, looking utterly frail. "By the way, Big Guy, why are you here? What kind of place is this? And what's this handcuff?"
Did this guy even listen to a word I said?
Sado repeated himself with a dark expression. "This is a prison. The handcuffs seem to suppress spiritual pressure. I've tried a lot of times, but I just can't—"
Snap—
Wu Biao simply pulled the handcuffs off his wrist, then tilted his head at Sado. "What about these handcuffs?"
Sado fell silent for two seconds, then simply shook his head. "Nothing..."
He couldn't explain it. No matter what, he just couldn't explain it. He'd spent hours trying to figure out how to undo the handcuffs...
Meanwhile, Wu Biao walked straight to the bars and gave them a gentle tug. The entire cell door came right off.
Sado blinked. He didn't know what expression to make as he watched. So escaping prison really was that easy.
Even the Shinigami of Seireitei would probably have reacted just like Sado if they'd seen this.
It wasn't their fault. Nobody here knew that Wu Biao was the Ryoka who'd defeated over a thousand Shinigami. When Yachiru brought him in, she'd only said he was a Ryoka and told them to treat him.
Seeing how unconcerned Yachiru had been, the 4th Division members had assumed Wu Biao was just some insignificant Ryoka. They'd given him a cursory treatment, put spiritual-pressure-suppressing handcuffs on him, and had someone take him to Seireitei's prison...
(the end)
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