Back to the video.
"Damn…"
"This is the first time I've ever seen… spiritual pressure this insane…"
Ganju Shiba, with his green headscarf, was completely engulfed in spiritual pressure.
Even the beads of sweat on his face were dramatically forced upward, then evaporated by the pressure.
"I… I can't breathe…"
Hanatarō, whose body was even weaker, clutched his chest, gasping as if an asthma attack had suddenly hit.
As for Ichigo Kurosaki—
Even with the full "protagonist halo" on him, his situation wasn't much better.
His whole body locked up; he couldn't move at all.
His arms and legs went numb, as if he had just taken a massive heavy blow out of nowhere.
He was visibly panicking.
That sudden surge of fearsome spiritual pressure, released by Kenpachi Zaraki, completely scrambled his thoughts in an instant and left him dazed and at a loss.
The reactions of the three of them, once exposed by the ranking video, naturally ignited heated discussion.
The viewers were now even more one-sided in their doubts.
With such an overwhelming difference in spiritual pressure, could Ichigo Kurosaki really win?
"Uh…"
"The gap is way too obvious!"
"It's like a college athlete—one of those tall, dark-skinned sports majors—beating up three third-graders…"
"How is Ichigo supposed to win?!!"
On the outskirts of Karakura Town,
in the Fool Squad's little hideout.
Shinji Hirako shook his head, clearly not optimistic.
Even now, Ichigo had two extra reinforcements by his side.
But those two…
One was fat, one was a timid scrub; no matter how you looked at them, neither had any combat power at all.
They couldn't even make things look a little more imposing on the surface.
Basically, they were just dead weight!
Under these circumstances,
Shinji even felt that Kenpachi didn't need to show himself properly at all.
Just his spiritual pressure alone
would be enough to pin all three of them down and crush Ichigo's body.
"Yeah…"
"Kenpachi is a spiritual-pressure monster!"
"I honestly think Ichigo might not even be able to scratch him!"
"Even if I hype up 'Zangetsu' as much as I want, if it can actually make Kenpachi bleed, I'll call it my loss…"
Hiyori Sarugaki stood with her hands on her hips, declaring this with absolute confidence.
It wasn't that she was deliberately targeting Ichigo, or that she just couldn't stand the protagonist.
It was just that—
Even through the screen,
that terrifying spiritual pressure kept pouring out.
Hiyori might be a bit weak as Captains go, but she was still someone who'd held the rank for a hundred years—her spiritual pressure was by no means low.
And yet she still felt the weight of it.
She was clearly being suppressed by Kenpachi's aura.
That was why she was so sure:
In the face of absolute power, no matter what twists and turns happened in the middle,
Ichigo Kurosaki
absolutely could not
win this fight against Kenpachi Zaraki!
The odds of that happening…
were about the same as winning a super-lottery ticket with a single bet.
Basically zero. Pure charity.
——
Sure enough,
he only managed to hold on for a short while.
"Ganju…"
"Hanatarō…"
Ichigo's voice rang out as he called their names anxiously.
Moments earlier,
the three of them had tried to split up and run.
But under that overwhelming spiritual pressure from the enemy's side,
their legs simply stopped listening to them.
Only Ichigo could barely force himself to keep standing.
The other two behind him soon collapsed one after another.
And then—
A tangible killing intent stabbed in from behind, like a blade plunging straight into Ichigo's back.
It was clearly just an illusion, yet it still gave him a painfully realistic sensation; his expression twisted with terror.
"What the…"
"You're Ichigo Kurosaki, right?"
"How long do you plan on just standing there…?"
That deep, rasping voice
reached Ichigo's ears.
The camera angle shifted—no one knew when it had happened, but Kenpachi was already standing right behind him.
That towering, beastlike frame
completely dwarfed Ichigo.
His feral grin made it feel like every escape route had been cut off.
"That strike…"
"Was really cool, you know!!!"
"In the video, the moment you appeared, you looked so manly and cool, hehe…"
In the 1st Division headquarters,
little Yachiru Kusajishi was perched on Kenpachi's shoulder, cheeks in her hands, chattering adorably.
"Right?"
Kenpachi smirked proudly. "Ichigo's clearly scared stiff now. He doesn't have any of the confidence he had when he fought Ikkaku!"
Behind him,
Ikkaku Madarame was speechless, dark lines forming across his forehead.
He'd just been randomly dragged into this as a comparison. Embarrassing didn't even begin to cover it.
"Anyway…"
"With a gap this huge,"
"as soon as Kenpachi swings his sword, the fight will be over, right?"
Hitsugaya Tōshirō spoke up.
Just the killing intent alone
was enough to scare Ichigo into hallucinations.
His mental state was obviously at its limit.
At this point,
forget Kenpachi.
Even some random Shinigami walking by could seize the chance, sneak in a strike, and chop Ichigo down. What was there left to fight?
"Yeah…"
Rangiku Matsumoto nodded in agreement. "No wonder that in the earlier rankings, there was no more footage of the whole 'Ryoka Invasion' arc."
"Looks like… the story must have been cut off right here…"
It wasn't just the two of them.
The other Captains, including the Head Captain himself,
had already silently accepted it.
In their minds, this little storyline was about to wrap up.
At the end of the day, he was just a rookie—
a high schooler who'd suddenly become a Shinigami halfway through life.
Ichigo Kurosaki
was never going to be able to cause some massive catastrophe in the Soul Society!!!
However—
the footage that played next
once again exceeded everybody's expectations, and even…
had a bit of twisted humor to it.
——
"Kenpachi…"
"I won't let you hurt my friends…"
The white cloth strip flew loose.
Ichigo reached back and drew out Zangetsu, intending to stay behind and hold the line by himself,
covering Ganju and Hanatarō's escape.
But—
he hadn't expected this move
to actually provoke Kenpachi into mocking him.
"What the hell…"
"You really are a guy who has no idea what's going on, aren't you…"
The camera zoomed in,
fixing squarely on Kenpachi's rugged face.
He grinned viciously and spoke in a tone totally unconcerned with anything:
"Those friends of yours—the two behind you, or Rukia Kuchiki…"
"I don't give a damn where they die next."
"I don't care at all!"
"So…"
As he spoke,
right in front of Ichigo,
and under the gaze of countless viewers outside the video—
Kenpachi cackled,
then boldly yanked open the top half of his Shinigami uniform and Captain's haori,
exposing a chest packed with cords of muscle,
leaving himself completely defenseless in front of Ichigo.
His mouth curled up even more as he said something that stunned even the viewers:
"Come on. I'll let you have a few free shots first!"
"Ichigo Kurosaki—swing your Zanpakutō as you please. Wherever you feel like cutting, slash at it with everything you've got…"
"This is a rare… all-you-can-hit welfare event, you know…"
When he finished,
Kenpachi even threw in a hint of pervy grin,
clearly enjoying the feeling of playing the masochist!
Naturally,
the audience was stunned all over again.
"Holy—"
"Never would've guessed Kenpachi was into this kind of thing! He's practically crossing the line of what we can show on screen!"
"This totally doesn't match his 'King of Plain Slashes' persona at all!"
"So in the end, it's not just women—men can have mega contrast as well, they just don't show it most of the time…"
For a moment,
the audience was dumbstruck.
When it came to hamming it up for entertainment, none of them could ever compete with Kenpachi.
One little peculiar kink like this, and the atmosphere skyrocketed.
Just a second ago,
everyone had still been worrying about Ichigo.
Now their eyes were lighting up—they felt like they'd just stumbled into some massive juicy gossip!!!
"What the hell…"
"When Kenpachi was cutting us Espada, he was nothing like this…"
Yammy was dumbfounded.
He felt like he'd been swindled.
He clearly remembered that when he'd released his Zanpakutō and transformed into his beast form,
Kenpachi hadn't said a single extra word—he'd just rushed straight in with a wild flurry of slashes and hacked one of his legs clean off!
Seriously…
So this is what protagonist privilege looks like?
Meet Ichigo Kurosaki and suddenly you start playing soft?
Six-six-six…
He wasn't even trying to pretend!
"Exactly…"
Nnoitra was just as annoyed. "Kenpachi is obviously doing it on purpose. He's totally mocking us Espada!!!"
Even as he spat complaints,
Nnoitra had to admit—he was kind of jealous of Ichigo.
It was just a pity that his own butt was too ugly.
In this life, he probably had no chance of being treated like a protagonist—only qualified to sit in the audience.
——
Back to the video again.
"Kenpachi…"
Ichigo gripped the hilt.
His body trembled as he roared,
"What kind of sick joke are you playing?! Swinging a sword at someone who isn't even defending himself…"
"How could I ever do something like that!!!"
Right now,
inside Ichigo's heart,
a berserk persona as mad as a Hollow was roaring.
He was bewildered and completely driven up the wall by Kenpachi.
It was the first time he'd encountered a fight that didn't follow any of the "rules" at all.
"Enough…"
"Quit whining and bring it on!"
"Neck, stomach, eyes—whatever. Ideally, kill me with three swings!"
Ignoring Ichigo's reaction,
Kenpachi tugged his clothes even further open, as if he were about to strip entirely and let Ichigo have at it with his bare torso.
His continued taunts
finally pushed Ichigo past his limit.
With a shout, Ichigo mustered up his courage, raised Zangetsu, and slashed down with everything he had!
"Will it work?"
Back in the real world,
in the high school classroom,
Chad, Tatsuki, and Orihime all held their breath as they stared at the screen.
Even they felt
that Kenpachi was going way, way overboard.
Look down on people all you want—
but there had to be a limit. Wasn't he worried he might just flip the script and get chopped down by Ichigo in one hit?
Ichigo himself
was also focused to the extreme,
eyes fixed on his own projected body as it cut down in the video.
"I can't miss…"
"As long as I can leave even one slash mark on Kenpachi's chest, I'll call it a win!!!"
However,
the result that followed
let everyone down and even drove them to despair.
——
"Clang—!!!"
Under countless watching eyes,
Zangetsu's edge came slashing straight down,
cutting directly into Kenpachi's chest.
But the result…
There was no blood at all.
Not even the faintest line of a slash.
Even more absurd—
it was Ichigo's wrist, the hand gripping the hilt, that split open and started bleeding instead!!!
"W-What…"
"How is that even possible!!!"
"Why am I the one getting hurt…?!"
In that moment,
the scene transmitted through the video sent shockwaves through everyone.
They could clearly see
Ichigo's expression twist into pure terror.
What had just happened
completely shattered his understanding of battle so far.
It was like playing a horror game and instantly getting jump-scared past your limit.
This one scene
triggered a massive uproar the moment it appeared in the ranking video.
"Damn…"
"So we were right—Ichigo really can't even break through Kenpachi's defense!"
"In the end, the gap in spiritual pressure is just there. The rules of the Shinigami world aren't something anyone can break!!!"
Inside the little general store,
Isshin Kurosaki wore a deeply troubled expression.
He was just as shocked
that Kenpachi would offer Ichigo a free swing.
But no one could guarantee
how long Kenpachi's twisted sense of fun would last.
Once he got bored or irritated—
what awaited Ichigo next
would be a killing blow.
As a father,
Isshin naturally didn't want to watch such a bloody scene with his own eyes.
"…"
Everyone else fell silent.
The viewers were forced to accept reality.
"If that's how it is, then all he can do is wait to die."
"Yeah… this is already the protagonist's final struggle."
"Damn…"
"Ichigo really has done everything he could!"
In the 1st Division headquarters,
Isane Kotetsu covered her mouth, unable to bear watching.
As the vice-captain of the Medical Division,
she could tell at a glance how severe Ichigo's injuries were.
Unless he received top-tier healing immediately,
he'd be bedridden for at least half a month before he could even walk again.
Not to mention…
his Zanpakutō had been cut in half!
There wasn't any chance left for a comeback!!!
"Captain Kenpachi… you went a bit too far. One more swing and you're going to kill Ichigo…"
Ikkaku Madarame said in surprise.
Sure, watching Ichigo get beat up felt great.
But—
killing off the protagonist outright? A clean solo kill?
That was something even Aizen and Yhwach had never managed to do!
Who would've thought—
his own Captain had already claimed the "First Blood on the Protagonist" achievement ages ago!
"Heh…"
"I bet Aizen's pretty jealous of me."
"I'm not like him—I won't be getting beaten by Ichigo!!!"
The moment Kenpachi finished bragging,
he basically proved he'd just opened his champagne way too early.
——
After that,
in the footage—
Zzzzz…
Just as Kenpachi turned to leave,
dragging his Zanpakutō, Nozarashi, along the ground with a bored, careless air,
at that very moment—
Ichigo, struggling on the verge of collapse, kept screaming in his heart:
"I don't want to die! I want to stand up! I want to keep fighting!"
Suddenly, he realized that under his feet,
his vision shifted downward and all color vanished, plunging into darkness.
Before the viewers could even figure out what was happening,
the image in the video changed.
Ichigo's figure appeared abruptly, walking with a relaxed, unhurried gait—
and from the opposite direction came Kenpachi's departing back,
the two figures forming a perfect mirrored opposition!
The scene was so eerie
that it instantly ignited a huge commotion.
"Holy—?!"
"His Zanpakutō's spirit… the training in his inner world… he's back again!!!"
"Don't tell me that right when he's about to die, Ichigo's going to revive in one second…"
"Then climb back to his feet and start fighting again?!"
(End of Chapter)
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