"Someone's challenging the boss?"
"Hahaha... You're kidding! The boss is invincible!"
"Interesting! Interesting!"
"Go easy on him, boss!"
After hearing Sōya Azashiro's words, the members of the 11th Division burst into laughter, emboldened by the alcohol.
"Hey! Watch what you say, you lot... Shall we take this outside?"
Kuruyashiki Kenpachi frowned at his division members' remarks, then turned to Sōya Azashiro.
"All right!"
Sōya Azashiro nodded slightly. He felt somewhat constrained in a setting like this banquet, so taking the fight outside suited him perfectly.
"Come on! Release your Zanpakuto!"
Outside the building, Kuruyashiki Kenpachi beckoned to Sōya Azashiro. As the one being challenged, he quietly waited for his challenger to release his Zanpakuto. His confidence in his own strength befitted the title of Kenpachi, the strongest Soul Reaper.
"Oh my~ How is that brat going to defeat Kuruyashiki Kenpachi?"
Shunsui Kyōraku leaned against the wooden boards behind him, looking sideways at Sōya Azashiro as he stood opposite Kuruyashiki Kenpachi.
"I keep feeling there is something unusual about that child from the Azashiro Clan. It's a very peculiar feeling."
Retsu Unohana watched Sōya Azashiro quietly, as though she had noticed something.
"Peculiar? Really?"
Shunsui Kyōraku questioned Retsu Unohana in some confusion. Perhaps his five senses were no longer as keen as they had been back then, but he had noticed nothing peculiar about Sōya Azashiro.
"What's wrong? Aren't you going to release your Zanpakuto?"
Kuruyashiki Kenpachi folded his arms across his chest and asked Sōya Azashiro with a slight frown.
"I... already have."
Sōya Azashiro gazed quietly at Kuruyashiki Kenpachi with eyes as calm as still water and spoke softly.
"You've already released it?"
Kuruyashiki Kenpachi froze at Sōya Azashiro's words. Then he felt his body shudder, and the Spiritual Pressure covering its surface plummeted.
"I'm sorry. I could never beat you by normal means."
Sōya Azashiro apologized to Kuruyashiki Kenpachi. He truly admired Kuruyashiki Kenpachi, who was so powerful that he did not even need Bankai to deal with Vasto Lorde-class Menos Grande. But for the sake of his goal, Kuruyashiki Kenpachi had to fall here.
"Slaughter the auspicious omens and come into being, revere the darkness and bid old age farewell, Garōgairō!"
Without the slightest hesitation, Kuruyashiki Kenpachi immediately released the Zanpakuto in his hand. Amid endless black light, countless monsters opened their enormous, bloodied maws and attacked Sōya Azashiro.
But Kuruyashiki Kenpachi was a step too late. Or rather, Sōya Azashiro had already accounted for everything, including Kuruyashiki Kenpachi's initial carelessness and his release of his Zanpakuto now.
At the very instant the monsters Kuruyashiki Kenpachi had summoned approached Sōya Azashiro-
"Stop."
Kuruyashiki Kenpachi spoke. At his command, all the monsters stopped where they were.
"What's going on?"
Kuruyashiki Kenpachi stared at the scene before him, momentarily stunned and somewhat bewildered as to what he was doing. He had not given that command-or rather, he had not wanted to give it. His body was beginning to escape his control.
"I'm sorry, Kuruyashiki Kenpachi!"
With a single Shunpo, Sōya Azashiro appeared before Kuruyashiki Kenpachi. Endless blades of wind instantly pierced his body, now that the Spiritual Pressure on its surface had weakened. In just an instant, they split open Kuruyashiki Kenpachi's chest and shredded the organs inside.
"Pfft..."
At the same time, blood spilled from Sōya Azashiro's mouth as he dropped to one knee.
"I... won!"
The theatrical battle was over. The invincible Kuruyashiki Kenpachi had simply "died" before the members of the 11th Division and the two captains. Kuruyashiki Kenpachi, who had maintained an overwhelming advantage even against a Vasto Lorde-class Arrancar like Szayelaporro, who had even been invited to Squad Zero by the Big-Eyed Monk on the strength of his combat ability alone, and who could almost be called the strongest Kenpachi in history, had ultimately met a theatrical death in a challenge for the title of Kenpachi.
"Hey, hey, hey! You're kidding, right?"
Shunsui Kyōraku could not suppress the astonishment in his eyes. From beginning to end, he had not understood how Kuruyashiki Kenpachi had lost.
"!?"
Like Shunsui Kyōraku, Retsu Unohana had once believed Kuruyashiki Kenpachi would be the last Kenpachi-that unless he was promoted to Squad Zero, there would never be another Kenpachi. Her eyes wavered slightly. Trouble was coming to the Soul Society.
"Captain!!"
"Bastard!"
"Why did you have to kill the captain? Wasn't beating him enough?"
The members of the 11th Division who had been watching all drew the Zanpakuto at their waists and released them, their eyes filled with anguish and resentment. They would avenge their beloved captain!
"Cough, cough, cough..."
Unfortunately, Sōya Azashiro could not answer their questions at all. Right now, even remaining on one knee here took every ounce of strength he had...
As for why he had killed Kuruyashiki Kenpachi? The reason was simple. Today was his only chance to defeat him, and he had only one strike. If that strike failed to leave Kuruyashiki Kenpachi unable to fight, he himself would lose in the next second. Yes, the gap between him and Kuruyashiki Kenpachi was that enormous...
Even the wind blades he took such pride in could not penetrate the defensive Spiritual Pressure covering his opponent's body. In fact, if his opponent had not just fought a Vasto Lorde-class Menos Grande and depleted some of his Spiritual Pressure, even his Bankai might have been nullified. And if his opponent had used Bankai rather than Shikai just now, the best possible outcome would have been their mutual destruction. At worst, he would have been killed instantly before he could even unleash his wind blades...
"All of you, stop!"
Just as the members of the 11th Division shouted and released their Zanpakuto, Kuruyashiki Kenpachi spoke. His chest had been split open and his organs pierced, yet he still stood where he was without falling.
"Huh?!"
Still on one knee, utterly drained of strength, Sōya Azashiro sweated profusely. I've accounted for everything... but I still haven't won?!
"C-Captain!"
The members of the 11th Division cried out, their eyes brimming with tears as they watched Kuruyashiki Kenpachi speak.
"Don't call me captain anymore! From today onward, that man is your captain! He defeated me, the Seventh Kenpachi, Kuruyashiki Kenpachi, fair and square in single combat, making him the Eighth Kenpachi! From this moment on, he will inherit my position as captain of the 11th Division. His name is Azashiro Kenpachi!"
Blood flowed from Kuruyashiki Kenpachi's chest, but the man still lived, still smiled, and remained as hearty as ever!
(End of chapter)