The 3rd Seat and 5th Seat of the 11th Division exchanged glances, unable to hide the shock in their eyes.
They had followed Kenpachi Zaraki through long years of slaughter before accepting recruitment into the Gotei 13 together. Therefore, it wasn't strange for their Captain to possess such combat experience; even they possessed combat skills that ordinary Shinigami could hardly match.
But Suzuki Makoto... he had only just risen to fame in the Zaraki District over the past year. Even if he fought with high intensity every day for this year, it shouldn't be possible for him to fight his Captain to... just how did he achieve this level?
Of course, they wouldn't know this was the result of the sweat Suzuki Makoto shed with Retsu Unohana—and a little "talent".
At this moment in the arena, Suzuki Makoto had keenly sensed Kenpachi Zaraki's still-climbing Reiatsu and momentum. He similarly began to raise his own Reiatsu, and the battle between the two continued to heat up.
"Hahahahaha! Your sword really pleases me!"
Kenpachi Zaraki laughed heartily, tore off his eyepatch, and shook off all the bells and accessories binding his hair. His entire person's Reiatsu instantly multiplied several times over.
"Fighting you, there's no need for these things that suppress Reiatsu. Come! Suzuki Makoto! Don't suppress your Reiatsu anymore either. I don't believe you're such a shallow man!"
"As you wish."
After a flat response, Suzuki Makoto's Reiatsu instantly erupted to more than several times its previous level. In this moment, the eyes of the 11th Division members hit the floor in shock again.
"What kind of monster is this guy?! Not only is it not enough to make the Captain fully release his Reiatsu to fight, but was he also relying on his own ability to suppress his Reiatsu before this?!"
"Looking at how at ease he still seems, maybe this isn't even his limit!"
"Oi, oi—are you all stupid?! The Captain didn't say a release command because he simply doesn't know Shikai, but this man's outburst just now didn't have a release command either! Could it be that he hasn't even used Shikai yet up to now?!!!"
With these words, the squad members, who had been blind to the obvious because their own Captain never used release commands, instantly reacted. A normal Shinigami fighting to this point, if not using Bankai, should have at least activated Shikai, right? Yet this guy actually caught up to Kenpachi Zaraki's full-power Reiatsu so easily?
"It... it should be that he can Shikai without a release command, right? Perhaps this guy has already learned Bankai, which is why he can do this."
"Right, right, right, that must be it."
The squad members wiped their cold sweat while finding a reasonable explanation. However, the two people in the 11th Division who had truly mastered Bankai had their jaws nearly hitting the floor at this moment.
"One can perform Shikai directly without a release command after mastering Bankai"—this statement wasn't wrong. However, the surge in Reiatsu brought about by such a Shikai should originate from the Zanpakuto, not the Shinigami themselves.
At this moment, for the two slaughtering each other in the arena, that surging Reiatsu came entirely from themselves; the Zanpakuto in their hands simply had no excess Reiatsu fluctuations whatsoever!
In other words, they were both fighting relying solely on their own Reiatsu. The Zanpakuto in their hands were truly just swords!
And the even more critical problem was...
"Say, that sword in Suzuki Makoto's hand... it doesn't seem to be a Zanpakuto, right?" Ikkaku Madarame asked, covered in sweat.
"Yeah... it completely lacks the unique Reiatsu aura of other Zanpakuto that change shape after Shikai. This indicates that this sword itself isn't even an Asauchi; he's just been pouring Reiatsu into it to fight."
Yumichika Ayasegawa also lost his composure a bit; in the past, such an inelegant posture would never have appeared on him.
"No wonder Ken-chan has been looking everywhere to challenge him. He's basically the same species as Ken-chan!"
Lieutenant Kusajishi, you make it sound like neither Kenpachi Zaraki nor Suzuki Makoto are Shinigami...
The two silently criticized in their hearts, but unexpectedly felt that this explanation seemed to be the correct one. After all, whose normal Shinigami could become a Captain holding an Asauchi? And there was an even more absurd one—holding a sword that wasn't even an Asauchi and fighting back and forth with the current Kenpachi.
Blood had already started to appear in the arena. Kenpachi Zaraki's fighting stance increasingly approached that of a beast. After completely releasing his Reiatsu, he no longer had any scruples about getting injured, and even began to trade injuries for the chance to strike first.
Suzuki Makoto, on the other hand, felt that fighting was easier than battling Retsu Unohana. After all, back then, neither side used Reiatsu; it was purely reliant on physical strength and combat skills. Although using Reiatsu made the fight more exhilarating, the efficiency of truly learning sword moves had decreased.
However... fighting with this guy, there didn't seem to be any sword moves to learn anyway.
The pressure Kenpachi Zaraki exerted was still rising, but Suzuki Makoto had keenly perceived that the climbing speed of the opponent's Reiatsu had slowed down a lot. Obviously, this was truly widening the upper limit, not releasing a suppressed portion.
As the man who once made Yachiru Unohana swallow the bitter pill of defeat, this kind of growth potential was indeed exaggerated to the extreme—it was no wonder Retsu Unohana didn't want to fight Kenpachi Zaraki right now.
As a fellow battle maniac, upon discovering that the opponent's strength was still rising during battle, it would be absolutely impossible to stop halfway. Instead, she would only want to continue fighting, wanting to witness where the opponent's true limit lay. In the end, of course, only one of the two would survive.
But Suzuki Makoto was not a battle maniac; he just wanted to test Kenpachi Zaraki's skills.
He immediately strengthened his Reiatsu, inflicting a heavy wound on the opponent's shoulder with one slash, then sliced across his torso without stopping, all the way to the thigh.
Blood instantly sprayed out along the terrible wound. Even Kenpachi Zaraki felt a momentary dizziness facing such massive blood loss. However, Suzuki Makoto immediately used Kaido to stop the bleeding for him. Coupled with the fact that he deliberately avoided tendons and bones when striking, merely cutting muscles and blood vessels, recovery would be quick.
Kenpachi Zaraki raised his head, a trace of unwillingness on his face.
He certainly couldn't fail to perceive Suzuki Makoto's mercy just now. To be able to seize his momentary lapse and leave such a massive wound that would leave no sequelae, meant that the opponent could still be described as having ease in the battle just now.
Although Suzuki Makoto won against him relying on Reiatsu rather than pure sword technique, this didn't give Kenpachi Zaraki any comfort. Instead, he began to somewhat hate himself for not knowing Shikai.
The squad members stood stiffly on the spot. This was the first time they saw their Captain, who had never known defeat, fall under someone else's blade.
Could it be that a new Kenpachi was born today?!
____
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