Northwest Seireitei

[Hachikō Goseikanjo]

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“Ayaaaa…what am I going to do with you, naughty girl?”

“Don’t suppose you’d settle for a good spanking?~”

Unlike the surviving Kuchiki and the remains of his Captains, Ko did not buckle beneath the weight of the Kenpachi.

Hachiko found herself perfectly annoyed that the brute had so rudely put an abrupt end to her little game. After all, she’d expended miniscule effort to fool the feeble minded into believing that she had taken a particular side in the ridiculous war that was brewing; when that could not have been further from the truth. With her plans to double cross or quite possibly murder the Tsunayashiro captain the second she got the chance dashed, she immediately shed all facade.

Taking her prey from her like that, who the hell did he think he was?

It was not the cruelty of the neglect of the nobles that fueled her actions, it was pure unadulterated and cruel curiosity. What would happen if the natural order of things was turned on its head? How would the realm fair with fresh faces at its helm? Who among the masses would live and who among them would not? These pressing inquiries would be what had driven the scientist through her plights thus far and consequently had been what had led her to where she was now…Standing before the strongest warrior the Seireitei had to offer, with a story to be told and it just so happened that they were reading the same book but by all accounts it appeared that they were on different pages. Even if she was openly on his side, the battle hungry Kenpachi in all probability would have killed her on the spot purely for the sport of it. Undoubtedly, there was no way that he would believe that she did not help in some way to murder his comrade purely on her word. It certainly didn’t help that he had witnessed her disrespectful display, that being a ploy to win over Tsunayashiro's trust now turning and biting her rightly in the ass. Even in the event that he took the time to ascertain exactly what had happened, which would have been by attempting to sense if any signature of her’s remained on Sachiko’s corpse that would prove whether she had a hand in her untimely demise or not, she must have known that he didn’t care about that. There was only one language that monsters like him and her understood when they had the misfortune of crossing into one another's territory.

Although the two had not crossed paths until that very day, both of their reputations had already preceded them unto one another. He, a beast of carnage and destruction, hell bent on destroying anyone standing in his way wherever that may be as well as being a glutton for indiscriminate killings and she, too deceptively erratic to assign significant traits to or trust for that matter.

Hachiko had always left him alone to his own devices, never giving him so much as a thought in her mind. Why would she? They had always been in completely different divisions for one worlds away and the illusion of seemingly limitless power had not interested her in the slightest. What was so fun about being the strongest in the Seireitei anyway? There was no room for growth, there was no room for meaningful experimental alteration. However, she couldn’t lie to herself. When that man drew near, her killing intent skyrocketed and she was sure that those around her could feel its potency. He was no exception. Once strangers, their demons now danced with one another and each contended to take the lead. Vice-Captain in official rank only, it was not a secret amongst the current group of leaders that everyone who experienced her knew she was more suited for Captaincy. Though, her unpredictable and troublesome tendencies kept such an invitation from ever reaching her doorstep. Her senses and body once besmirched by his oppressive spiritual power now steadied and cleared for even though there was a sizable difference between their class and Reiryoku, the witch’s insatiable bloodlust was so great that it served as an amplifier to her own already immense spiritual power and effectively brought balance to the scales.

If only momentarily, it was more than enough to ensure she could stand toe to toe with Murakami matching his obvious elation grin for grin.

Realizing that as she is now, acting with her shikai would be futile, not to mention a complete waste of time. No, if she meant to provide the Kenpachi with the all out battle that he would be seeking, she had to go beyond that. Such a resort was completely illegal of course, and an act of outright treason against the soul society itself some might have said but who was to say in the mess of this civil war, what was wrong and what was right? This was a rare moment, a fleeting timeline in which the rules had been tragically skewed. In the end, it all depended on who ended up triumphant when all was said and done. There was only one person that could punish her for what she was about to do next, and she knew fully that if taking this step didn’t pay off..she would pay the cost with her life. So then, was it a death wish that drove Hachiko’s next course of action, or could it possibly have been nothing more than a desire to roll the dice with no actual preference pertaining to what became of it? Was this her way of testing the Soul King’s will, whether she was to live or whether she was to die? Or was it as simple as the scientist attempting to see through a nagging hypothesis?

If it was blood that he wanted, then it was blood that he would be given.

“BANKAI!”

Hachiko Goseikanjo’s Reiryoku spiked around her and caused both the earth and the heavens to tremble as witnesses to her transcending spiritual power. The proverbial chain broken, a torrential flood of blood erupted into existence. With it, she melted into its steaming warmth becoming thoroughly assimilated as one with the crimson fluid and absent now from all forms of sight. The lake of blood spread tremendously with reckless abandon soon filling the immediate area.

All the environment and organisms in its way faced crippling devastation and bowed and broke, swallowed up by its essence to be robbed of all spiritual power and life as it and they knew it. It's dimensional influence echoed throughout the whole of the Seireitei, an alarm indicating that every inch of the atmosphere was now in very real jeopardy. The lake soon became a sea, finding itself swelling around those in the vicinity. Its dark depth reached Murakami’s knees and once touched, left his person with its defiling red stain. Like a boiling mixture in a sorceress's cauldron, the blood bubbled lifting toward the skies but it was what it gave birth surrounding him on all sides that demanded the Kenpachi’s undivided attention. What could have only been described as an army of monstrosities, rose up from the pool. Together they charged forth with their fangs and talons bared, each aiming to rip mindlessly into the man before them. They had no discernible features such as eyes or noses or ears, only open gaping maws and stocky well built bodies for tearing and devouring.

Kinko would be given the opportunity to attempt his escape, though by no intentional doing of her’s because the harsh reality was that Hachiko could have cared less if any of them lived or if they died. There were many reasons that Hachiko had been officially banned from ever utilizing her Bankai while she was in the soul society, but one of the most predominant reasons had been that it showed no restraint when it came to the atmosphere, foes and friends. He would be subjected to the same catastrophic effects that the Kenpachi was. Having said this, the attack of the unrelenting horde should have indirectly bought the royal’s time to escape but the actual execution of such an impressive escape was left completely to the fleeing Kuchiki.

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[admins]

Listen While You Read

Within all the realms there existed only a handful of beings who lived on a plane beyond the comprehension of all others. They were individuals whose souls had evolved beyond the recognition and understanding of those beneath them. One of these souls held the title of Kenpachi; his name: Kenta Murakami.

Within the scores of Soul Society history, the title of Kenpachi had been held by nine Shinigami; the very First, known as Shigenaga Kenpachi, maintained the reputation of most skilled fighter for a millennium, his demise rumored to have come at the hands of the Second Kenpachi, Yuyu Nishida. And the legacy continued on since then, the title bestowed upon the individual capable of taking the life of the single Soul renowned for being the greatest and strongest Shinigami of that generation. All of them powerful in their own rights, all of them acquiring the title on the laurels of their skill with their swords, and its unique and otherworldly abilities.

Kenpachi Murakami, the man who held the title of the Ninth, was rumored to be the most powerful of them all. All kinds of stories about the Kenpachi’s strengths spread throughout the Soul Society; some would say that it was the 11th Captain’s unrivaled spiritual power that set him apart from the rest; others spoke tales of his mastery of the sword; stories of his legendary strength; rumors of his destructive Zanpakuto being the most powerful to ever have come to be. The truth as it were, resided within each and every one of these aspects.

What made Kenpachi Murakami the strongest Shinigami of his generation, and that of his predecessors, was that he’d reached the pinnacle of Shinigami existence, both in spirit and in his mastery of all four Shinigami Arts.

Kinko Kuchiki, one of many distant relatives to the soon to be deceased Captain of the Fourth, was a Soul living on borrowed time. It wasn’t every day that one got to exist within proximity of the Kenpachi as an ally, and much less as an enemy. In truth, Kinko hadn’t even registered on the 11th Captain’s radar, overlooked much like a human would an ant. The Kenpachi’s sole purpose for coming all this way was to rid the Soul Society of Captain Tsunayashiro. Kinko, Hachiko, and for that matter, Sachiko, weren’t even afterthoughts. But alas, here was an ignored ant who’d thought it wise to draw the ire of his neighboring human by giving him a juicy bite.
​

"I leave this to you. I need to get my captain-”​

Before the young Kuchiki finished his sentence, a weight unlike any other fell upon him, anchoring him to the desecrated earth like cement; the Kenpachi’s spiritual pressure escalated multifold within a breath, an imperceptible change that struck the Third Seat like a Sekkiseki boulder.

Some meters in front of Kinko, Kenpachi's frame came to be, the large hammer rested across his shoulders, a devilish grin written on his face. Behind Kinko, if the young Kuchiki were so inclined to look, stood the original version of the Kenpachi, ever so real; one had become two within an undetectable instant. Once under the Kenpachi’s gaze, there was no escape.

“Oh my, what do I have here?” the Kenpachi asked quizzically, his wide eyes speaking to his internal savagery. He began to laugh maniacally. “I didn’t see you there, were you here all along? Ahahaha, maaan, all kinds of funny critters running about. Let me guess,” he continued as he pointed at the still unconscious Captain Tsunayashiro, who lay within Kinko’s arms. “You’re trying to save your poor little Captain by taking him away and hiding him from me? That’s very admirable, oh yes, very much so; see, the Seireitei does have good people, that’s what I told Shihaimono, but the egghead doesn’t listen.” Kenpachi made a comedic face as he gestured to his ears, puckering his lips and letting out a mild whistle. “In one ear, out the other. But alas, that’s neither here nor there. You get one chance here kid, put the corpse down and scram.”

The Kenpachi had given Kinko his ultimatum, but in a twist of irony, it seemed Hachiko would steal the boy’s chance at life, for the utterance of that dreadful word was accompanied by an equally horrendous spiritual power; even so, as high as it dared to roar, as violently as it sought to overtake that of the Kenpachi’s, it simply couldn’t.

Both the Kenpachi’s grins rose to cover near their entire faces, the excitement of what was to come taking hold of them both.

The sky was torn asunder, and from the gaping wound did an endless waterfall of blood pour. The red sea spread and spread, consuming the world around them like an insatiable ocean would fill a barren chasm. This was Hachiko Goseikanjo’s mysterious Bankai, which had been banned from use within the Soul Society and the World of the Living due to its devastating effect on the realm in which it was summoned. A formidable Zanpakuto that would be unrivaled by most others, but unfortunately, it had finally met its match. It seemed the Blood Witch, in the face of meeting her end, had decided to gamble her future.

Listen While You Read

And in response, the Kenpachi’s pupils disappeared, eyes overtaken by a pulsating orange torrent of spiritual power, his beastly sharp teeth shone for all to see; the scream of pure savage ecstasy that followed, took the world by the proverbial throat, clenching down on its windpipe to silence its every aspect. The Reiatsu that flared out from the Kenpachi’s was like nothing yet seen or experienced, the world around them shifting from one color to the next, until the entire pallet had taken its course; the world itself trembled, shaken to its core at the behest of the Kenpachi’s will.

With the ocean of putrid red nearly upon them all, Hachiko dissolved, becoming one with her own creation.

Before the blood made contact, both Kenpachi’s raised their hammers high, and uttered a single phrase-

“Daishidankai: Zetsumetsujiken!”

-before they brought their hammers down to eat through the blood, and finished with a slam against the earth itself. The earth quaked even more violently, a seismic reaction coursing through the realm and blood alike, spreading out indefinitely, felt throughout an enormous portion of the Northwestern Quarter of the Seireitei. Then, suddenly, did much of the Northwestern Quarter – the earth, the trees, the buildings, the walls, the blood of Hachiko’s Bankai all the way up to the gaping wound from which it poured, and the Souls of the living and the dead – lit up from the inside out, glowing a blinding and violent orange. The only exception: Kinko and the Captain within his embrace had been left untouched, a small circle around them left undisturbed on purpose.

Mere seconds it took before everything went blank, the world around them forced to erupt in a singular yet cataclysmic explosion, a torrent of brim, fire, and flames rising up skyward unrelentingly with no end in sight. The wave of orange and red fire and energy would overtake the Seireitei at large, looming over it from the Northwest, taking on the appearance of the Kenpachi’s menacing visage in element form, a display of utter dominance and destruction for all to see and experience. A dystopian event visible even from the far reaches of the Rukongai. The power and sheer spiritual output of this ability held the equivalent of ten fully incanted 90’s level Hado.

Kenpachi’s Zanpakuto, Takaijigoku (高い地獄, high hell), was a fire-based soul weapon; its Shikai possessed the power to force anything it touched to erupt on a molecular level, taking the Reishi of the world itself as fuel for its catalyst. Anything connected to the original point of contact was within his reach, to include an ocean of blood or a pair of feet, and everything in between. Daishidankai: Zetsumetsujiken (第四段階絶滅事件, fourth stage: extinction affair) was Takaijigoku’s penultimate ability, one that had been banned from use by the Central Forty-Six, much like Hachiko’s Bankai.

The battle between the Kenpachi’s Shikai and the Blood Witch’s Bankai would ultimately favor the former, both in the difference in spiritual power and the mechanism of their respective Zanpakuto abilities. Where the Bankai of Blood sought to take the spiritual energy of the world and make it its own, the power of Takaijigoku coupled with the Kenpachi’s overpowering spiritual energy would force it all to erupt violently, leaving no Reishi in its wake for the Witch to consume, to include itself. In the end, there would be no more Hachiko, no sea of blood, large portions of the Third, Twelfth, or Thirteenth Divisions erased; there would be nothing but charred and soot-covered earth. The Northwestern Seireitei had been reduced to an enormous crater.

As for Kinko and his Captain; so long as the boy’d remained within the small circle – now turned into an unscorched platform – and simply watched as the cataclysm rose around him infinitely, he would still be alive to tell his most lucky tale. When it all subsided, he would find a single Kenpachi, hammer over shoulder, smiling and glaring up at him expectantly from below, waiting for an answer to his previous proposal.​

 

[StephDLegend]

To survive was the one instinct the Kuchiki of late prioritized. This was what they needed especially after the massacre that took the lives of many of their people. Now that the sole survivor of that old event was out of commision, it was time for the Kuchiki to look to new leadership. While that would be something to worry about at a later time, it was still pretty much one of the things that crossed Kinkō's mind as Sachiko slowly faded closer to death. She traded her duty and survival for disgrace and death. Pitiful.

Now that was was out of commision, there were more pressing matters to deal with. Kinkō's captain, Nobu Tsunayashiro, needed serious medical attention and while he was getting that the medical team was eliminated; no, they were disintegrated by the Kenpachi, Kenta Murakami. His captain's legs were also disintegrated. The Kenpachi was surely a force to be reckoned with which Kinkō felt the weight of by the immeasurable spiritual pressure. The young Kuchiki found himself struggling to breathe or move. His survival instincts allowed him to temporarily bypass his limit and his spiritual pressure increased drastically, allowing him to move. He was able to flash step to his captain. He grabbed the man and was about to leave, telling Hachiko that he was leaving it all to her as he needed to get his captain out of there.

Unfortunately, his words were cut short when he felt the weight pushing against him. The Kenpachi's spiritual pressure had multiplied and for the first time in his life Kinkō's instinct to survive halted. He couldn't move very well and if he tried to he would surely die. His drive to survive was confused. How could it end like this? No way out and no escape.

The man who brought the instinct of a cornered Kuchiki to its knees appeared before Kinkō. He spoke to the young man in a way to say that he didn't even notice his presence. Just how much stronger was he that Kinkō was nonexistent to him? The large hammer on his shoulder and that devilish grin... what even stood before the 3rd seat? Kinkō turned his face and saw another instance of the same man; no, monster.

He complimented Kinkō on trying to save his captain. Kenpachi explained that he told Captain Shohaimono that there were still good people in the Seireitei. Whether he was being serious about the 3rd seat being admirable for his actions or not, Kinkō was honored that he would at least be remembered as admirable should he be killed there.

To Kinkō's surprise, the monster that stood before him wanted to cut a deal. He looked at the man with shaky eyes as the stipulations of the deal were voiced. The boy was to either abandon his captain or die. Would he drop his captain just to survive? Survival was the Kuchiki way and the Tsunayashiro were responsible for massacring his family. That should make the choice easier, right? Wrong. Kinkō didn't pin the sins of the Tsunayashiro on his captain. Everyone should be charged by their own transgression and not the ones done by their ancestors.

Before he could choose, Hachikō decided to take the man head on. She unleashed her bankai which was said to be forbidden due to the effects it had on the things in its reach. She could simply kill everything in its wake or at least that's what Kinkō was led to believe. Unable to move, he had a hell butterfly notify Sensei Aijō but with the way things were looking, it would be too late for him to saved. Hachikō's bankai was going to wipe them out. He did have a good run though. It was time for him to see Heikō again.... well at least that was what he thought.

Sorry, Heikō, Hikari, .... Yami. We did our best. His thoughts were interrupted when the Kenpachi's reiatsu flared. The world's color changed and the area trembled at the power of the Kenpachi. It would seem that Hachikō disappeared and that the blood was flying towards them but both Kenpachis swung their hammers and called out the name of an attack.

Listen while you read

Everything but Kinkō and his captain was completely decimated. There was no trace of anything that was there before. Even Hachikō and her bankai was gone without a trace. In the aftermath, there was enormous crater and charred and soot-covered earth. It was the very first time Kinkō felt true fear.

He looked over to the monster responsible for this with his entire body trembling. His eyes were even shaking. He had never experienced such a thing where he saw how extremely outclassed he was. He saw that smile and glare looking his way. His body moved on its own... well, his arms came loose and his captain fell from his grasps. In order for Kinkō and the 2nd division to survive then their captain had to die. Sorry Captain Tsunayashiro, I can't save you this time. Forgive me. Words refused to escape and he could do is look at the Kenpachi in fear of being next.

Life and death was a cycle but Kinkō didn't want to die... not yet. He was totally outclassed and was at the mercy of the Kenpachi. Was there any hope that he would survive and if he did what would become of him? He did the best he could to serve but there was no was he could do anything against a threat like this. ​

 

[Adonai]

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From Southwest

Oto raced towards the location designated to him from the Hell Butterfly and more specifically towards the Reiatsu signatures of Hachiko and the Kenpachi, both of which were quite potent and easily sensed. The Fourth Division Lieutenant had released her Bankai, something that was forbidden for her to do but given the state of law and order in the Seireitei right now, who would enforce such a thing? No one that’s who, however, someone had to do something because at this rate the ocean of blood threatened to consume everything if it wasn’t stopped. The old man began to draw his blade as he neared the scene of the crime, his foot plants itself firmly on the rooftop of a building before launching himself skyward with it. The physical strength Oto possesses betrays his frail old man appearance as when he kicks off the building it crumbles from the force of it. Propelled high into the sky, his means of attack already plotted out in his mind, he prepares to release his Zanpakuto when suddenly…

BOOM!!!

Below him the ground erupted into a cataclysmic explosion destroying everything around it. Oto could not see the devastation on the ground as flames were quickly rising towards him in the sky. Whatever ability was used did not reach the old man but the aftermath was well on its way.

”Jūryokuhanten!”

Using his Zanpakuto he slashes downward causing a silver wave of energy to be released from the dagger, hitting the oncoming fire and causing gravity to shift down. With the torrent of flames being pushed back he had to protect himself from the oncoming concussion wave that was following behind it, the very force that was driving the flames upward to begin with.

”Bakudō #73. Tozanshō!”
[/i](倒山晶, Inverse Mountain Crystal; Viz "Falling Mountain Crystal")[/i]

An inverted pyramid of Kido energy forms itself around Otokogi just as the concussive wave hits. Multiple hairline fractures form across the entirety of the pyramid forcing the old man to use Kōjutsu Eishō (後述詠唱, Spoken-After Incantation) to strengthen his barrier and to ensure his protection. Using the pyramid as a platform he was able to remain airborne until the turbulence in the air subsided, letting him know the concussive wave had passed. He disspells the Kido from the top down to allow himself to kick off of it to remain airborne, but what he is greeted with below has his heart sink into complete-

Dispair

The entirety of the Northwestern Seireitei had become a crater, his home, Third Division, all of his people, all those men and women with aspiring hopes and dreams, gone without a chance to fight back. He closes his eyes tightly, the mass loss of life aching him, a few tears rolling down his face before he opens them once again. Reiryoku filled his eyes, evaporating the tears. It didn’t matter what side the Kenpachi was on, it didn’t matter what sort of power he boasted, and most of all his title meant nothing to the old man.

He will pay.

”Bankai…”

Otokogi’s Battle Theme

”Zettai Jūryokuhanten.”
(Absolute Gravity Inversion; 絶対重力反転)

His dagger begins to glow silver, his Reiatsu spikes to its peak, it warps, twists, and contorts itself before shattering and releasing its Reiatsu in tandem with Oto’s. Unlike last time gravity did not shift on a massive scale, all that had changed was his blade. He begins to fall from the sky, his target destination being the small platform on which the Kenpachi stood. It took no grand analysis to figure out what he was looking at, the reason that platform remained is because his Zanpakuto works based on a safety zone. The old man has seen abilities like this in the past, he knows it means that the Kenpachi is susceptible to his own ability if a safety zone exists. He exploited these weaknesses in the past and he’ll exploit them again.

”Bakudō #39. Enkōsen.”
(円閘扇, Round Lock Fan; Viz "Circle Lock Fan")

Everyone knows that the use of Reishi platforms are impossible within the Seireitei due to the walls of Sekkiseki creating the Shakonmaku (遮魂膜, Soul-Warding Membrane; Viz "Soul Shield Membrane") around it, however there is a way around such a restriction via Kido. The old man knows this well, being a teacher he has to know this which is why he is employing Enkōsen to create a platform at his feet so that he may use Shunpo to accelerate his free fall and reach the Kenpachi inside his safe zone. The Kenpachi would have sensed Oto’s Bankai release and may have been watching him approach, believing he had plenty of time to prepare for his free fall arrival only for that timetable to be skewed by the old man’s actions with Kido. The old man arrives before the Kenpachi, his massive blade already mid swing using only a singular arm to swing the hulking blade, still, the inverse gravity that is exerted from the Old man’s body is nowhere to be felt.

Otokogi know’s the Kenpachi well, or rather what to expect from him. To be this close to him is dangerous, it is a gamble, but that's all battles are, gambles of life and death. He has lived a long life, seen other Kenpachi rise and fall and never once has he ever challenged one and what horrible luck he would have that he would be forced to fight the strongest Kenpachi of them all. The best case scenario in this fight is that Oto survives whatever beating comes his way, worst case he dies. Hoping for victory here is wishful thinking, but maybe through age and experience he can best him. That's right, being a Kenpachi is nothing more than a title, the landscape of being the strongest changes everyday, every hour, every minute, every second. Because after spending a full day of fighting Otokogi is stronger than he was when the day started, not by leaps and bounds, it is miniscule at best but the point still remains. Oto looks past the meaningless title and views only the man himself, Kenta Murakami. How will the Kenpachi respond? Will he block the incoming blade? Will he avoid it entirely? Will he choose to attack instead of defend? Within the span of these crumbling seconds with the massive blade falling upon him all shall be revealed.

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​

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[admins]

Kenpachi stood before insects in wait for a response to his ultimatum, one that the Kuchiki youth had been lucky to receive at all; in truth Kenta’s expectations, as they were for most of his life, were rock bottom, his attention taken away elsewhere as he scanned the nearby desecrated landscape and beyond for any semblance of entertainment. H a lucky Soul he was, for entertainment had found him.

Gramps was a Shinigami whose reputation preceded him, a Soul well known even beyond the borders of the now crippled Third. The old man’s touch could be felt across the entirety of the Thirteen Court Guard Squads, as he’d personally taught and trained many of those who currently served. That wasn’t the only reason, however. In truth the elder Vice-Captain held power and skill that rivaled that of his superiors, a fact well understood by everyone save for the inept.

As such, when the elder’s immense reiatsu flared and subsequently registered on the Kenpachi’s subconscious senses, the once blatant boredom transformed into a devilish grin. Under most circumstances, the Vice-Captain’s skill at Shunpo coupled with the overwhelming characteristics of his released Bankai’s abilities would spell the end for the recipient of the old man’s ire. Yet, when his Bankai’s enormous blade sought to sever the Captain, it instead met an invisible resistance a foot from the Kenpachi and simply stopped mid-air; the sound of vibrating energy rippled about the Eleventh Captain, accompanied by a flicker of green that quickly transformed into a hexagonal barrier: Millón Escudo.

Kenta looked back gleefully over his shoulder at Oto, through the pulsating barrier. “Oi, geezer, I’ve been waitin’ for this day for so long!” A slight shift of his wrist would have the blunt edge of his enormous hammer make contact with his side of the Millón Escudo; the side of the barrier facing Oto suddenly began to brighten, turning from green to orange, energy bubbles forming all about its surface.

“Bakudō #61. Rikujōkōrō,” were the final words spoken by the Kenpachi as three yellow flat beams formed and raced to pin down the Vice-Captain of the Third Division, and seal his fate forever.

As for the young Kuchiki Third Seat: it would be in his best interest not to take this seemingly auspicious moment of respite lightly.​

 

[StephDLegend]

Shaken... Kinko was very much shaken. He stood powerless as the Kenpachi destroyed so much. Not even Hachiko and her deadly bankai was able to do anything. What was he to do? He was given a choice that he didn't want to make. Let his captain go and survive or defend his captain and they both die. He didn't make the choice but his body did. It came loose, letting his captain fall. The fear that overtook him was overwhelming. Never before had he felt such an intense feeling.

Not much to do than accept his fate, right? Well not quite. Vice-Captain Otokogi Aijō had appeared. Just like that, there was hope. Kinko needed to get out of the way of these two powerful titans and save himself. With Kenpachi's focus on someone else, this was the chance Kinko needed to escape certain death. Without wasting any more time, he flash stepped away.

He needed to escape and go to somewhere where he felt safe. It would be wrong for him to return to his division. How could he? Not after he left the captain to perish while he got out with his life. Would they hate him? Would they try to kill him? Even if he were to try to save the captain, what would be the point? There was no squad 4 left. There wouldn't be anyone to save his life. He'd simply die from his wounds. There was way too much going on and he needed to process what he experienced. He was trembling but that didn't stop him from moving. He had to run, he had to get away.

As he fled, many thoughts crossed his mind such as how could someone be so monstrously powerful. He even questioned if it was even possible for the Kenpachi to be defeated. Could he even ever get that powerful should he survive? He gritted his teeth as he kept on moving before he was out of the Northwest of the Seireitei.

--- Travels to the Kuchiki Manor in the Northeast Seireitei---​

 

[Adonai]

---

This was truly a battle Oto never thought he would ever have to endure. The mere thought of fighting a Kenpachi was so far removed from his mind that it only registered as little more than a joke when someone ever brought it up. “The Kenpachi is far stronger than me” or “There is a reason I don’t have that title” were things the old man would say anytime a student would ask him the classic “you vs the Kenpachi” question. Today would be the day this hypothetical question becomes reality and the day Otokogi has to finally prove if he is truly weaker than the Kenpachi or not.

Surprise After Surprise

Much to the pleasure of the Kenpachi’s senses he would sense the release of Oto’s Bankai but not any of its overwhelming aspects as they had strangely been absent upon its release. All that had truly changed was his Zanpakuto. Diving downard from the sky with this Zanpakuto he sought to impale Kenpachi Kenta only to be caught by surprise at the sight of a spell being cast before him, a spell that not even he was capable of casting, Millón Escudo. Otokogi’s blade makes contact with the spell and he looks on in utter shock as his advance is halted, left a sitting duck in the face of the Kenpachi and left to his mercy, of which there is none.

”Oi, geezer, I’ve been waitin’ for this day for so long!”

Oto’s face grimaces at his words as he seems to brace himself for the incoming hammer strike to the barrier. When the hammer makes contact it begins to bubble but on Kenta’s side rather than Otokogi. The old man watches now without much of an expression on his face.

”Young fool.”

Kenta would be on the receiving end of his own attack as Millón Escudo gathered all the resulting energy of his attack to one point and repelled it back in his direction! But how, how did this happen? Did Kenta perhaps misuse the spell and cast it backwards? No, nothing of the sort, a mistake like that is impossible to make, however a mistake he did make was allowing Oto’s Zanpakuto to make contact with the barrier. Zettai Jūryokuhanten (Absolute Gravity Inversion; 絶対重力反転) is a Bankai that inverts the flow of gravity with Otokogi being the epicenter of this phenomenon. All things fall away from him save for the things below his feet. Encountering this Bankai causes those around him to fall towards the sky or horizon within a specific zone that Oto dictates upon release. It is truly a frightening and discombobulating Bankai for sure but this alone does not make his Bankai strong, the true terror resonates from the blade itself. Whatever this blade strikes it turns it inside out, should it strike an arm the arm is flipped inside out exposing its muscle and nerves the only way to undo this is to be struck by the blade a second time. And so the picture comes together at last, while he was caught off guard by the usage of Millón Escudo Oto had nothing to truly fear as the barrier became his own to use.

The violent explosion that sought to kill Oto was instead redirected at Kenta, which was meant to turn the old man to dust now ripples downward and expands the crater below them. Could Kenta survive the strength of his own barbaric attack or will he be crippled by it, leaving him to the mercy of Otokogi? Mercy that the old man will not use on him.

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[admins]

In Kenta’s centuries-long and battle-stricken life, confrontations with those who boasted the courage to raise their swords against him often ended in absolute disappointment and to his never ending chagrin, boredom. But there were a select, handful of rare battles that imprinted upon his memory, that at the time had left the now Kenpachi with immutable excitement. As such, it wasn’t every day that a Soul had the combination of bravado, guile, strength and Zanpakutō ability to catch Kenta with his dick in his hand.

It was no surprise that Kenta had no idea what the Old Man’s Bankai could do, because he wasn’t a fucking mind-reader; Soul King forbid. A Shinigami’s Bankai was their bread-and-butter; it was a secret weapon whose details, for good reason, were kept close to the chests of those who’d been lucky or gifted enough to achieve it. But what the Kenpachi did posses was a remarkable ability to analyze on the fly, and an equally honed reflex; his new and dangerous circumstances were made clear within mere breaths, giving him the time he needed to respond in appropriate measure.

The Kenpachi’s eyes widened, a combination of surprise and elation written across his still grinning face. With his Kidō casting disrupted, the Kenpachi shifted accordingly. Just as the orange hue of the bubbling Millon Escudo shifted inward to glow upon the left side of Kenpachi’s turning face, did his shoulder-rested, mighty hammer glow an equally intense orange. He made no other movements, and then did the the sound of two eruptions boomed across the battlefield; two explosions of equal fire and force collided, spreading outward diagonally creating a wall of brim and fire between Kenta and his foe; the explosions attempted to push past its opposite twin, until they both eventually ran out of steam, leaving a cloud of soot and dust to consume Kenta’s surrounding area; the Kenpachi was lost form sight, his signature too disappearing.

Then, a single sonic boom resonated form within the large smoke-cloud, and only a second later did Kenta’s enormous hammer emerge, roaring toward the geezer hammer-head first at lightening speed, seeking to strike its elder target dead-center of his chest. Several portions of the weapon, namely underneath the silver and gold hammer-head and the golden pummel, glowed an intense orange.

“You sly old fucker,” was suddenly heard from under and behind the still airborne Oto, followed by an unspeakable downpour of the Kenpachi’s Reiatsu upon the old man; simultaneous to this, the old man would feel a force tighten around his ankle, one that the elder could easily surmise would be able to crush his flesh and bone alike. A glance down and back would show the Kenpachi, calm, collected and still grinning. The Haori and Shihakusho of his left arm, whose now yellow-glowing hand unbreakably gripped the old man’s left ankle locking him in place, had been incinerated, exposing a charred yet functional left arm. The Kenpachi’s frame glowed his signature orange, his position and balance protected against foreign forces. “Let’s have a little fun, you and I!”​

 

[Adonai]

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With a wall of fire between him and Kenta, Otokogi was able to surmise that the Kenpachi countered his own attack. It didn’t come as a surprise as it would have been rather plain if he had been felled by his own attack. This was an odd way of thinking for Oto, thinking something would be boring if an opponent had died a certain way, was the Kenpachi’s love of fighting starting to influence him to some degree? No, what Oto was after was justice, justice for the lives this man senselessly took without a care. Had Kenta died to his own attack it may as well have been chalked up to suicide. With his survival comes another chance for the old man to enact justice upon the brute.

The Trickery of a Brute

While this Kenpachi was certainly filled with surprises, something slowly became more and more clear to the old man. If one can survive the initial shock and awe of this man and can maintain their composure his fighting style becomes a lot easier to dissect… or is this just the truth for anyone a person faces in a fight? It is true that the shock and awe of Kenta’s existence always made him seem like an unconquerable foe to Otokogi but right now, things are starting to feel a bit different, as long as he plays his cards right. There is the sound of a sonic boom erupting in the air, Oto narrows his eyes and in the time it takes him to narrow them the glowing hammer of the Kenpachi was upon him. He takes note of the glowing portions of the hammer, these are the portions that must result in the explosions when they make contact. Instead of going through the techniques he has at his disposal his wisdom and experience come into play instead. Using his Reiatsu he forces the hammer to plummet straight down to the ground due to the downward gravity effect of his Reiatsu, with the extensive damage done to this area another explosion would only result in a bigger crater. The hammer is sent flying down and away from Oto but at the same moment he hears Kenta behind and below him, he has approached at a particular angle.

He was assaulted by a downpour of Reiatsu which forced him to move downward out of the sky followed by an additional weight being added to him in the form of Kenta grabbing ahold of his ankle. He looks down and notices the charred arm.

”Hmmm…”

Oto analyzes the situation and calls it out directly to Kenta.

”Hado 96, Ittō Kasō, yes? So desperate to beat me you are willing to sacrifice your arm to do so, what a coward you are.”

Kenta had oddly enough found the one spot safe from Oto’s Bankai ability, one half of it anyway. Oto holds his blade upside down, the tip of the blade being aimed at Kenta, however he does nothing, he merely aims the blade at him as if it were a warning. A scolding glare peers down at the Kenpachi as the two plummet closer toward the ground.

”You will soon lose your advantage, the number of Kido you can cast from this position have already been assessed and accounted for. Even your Hakuda has been accounted for, I need only wait until your blessed Reiatsu pushes us to the ground.”

The old man stops trying to resist the heavy flow of Reiatsu and lets it take him down with Kenta, blade still pointed at him. Kenta could shatter his ankle and take his foot, but then what? In what way would that stop Oto from swinging his blade or casting a spell or pummeling him to death? With the Kenpachi resorting to using such trickery instead of head on combat one has to wonder, has Kenta reached the end of his wits?

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[admins]

The title of Kenpachi was a moniker as old as time, one handed down over the course of many milenia to those with the power and skill to take it; it was a title that held a particular connotation, due to the fact that most of its past holders exemplified these very traits: brutish and bloodthirsty, animals who fought like savages, ran simply on instinct and cared little for anything but the thrill of battle, and often, a masochistic drive to experience death itself. An assortment of assumptions that for the most part, held true.
But with everything in life, there existed exceptions. In the line of the revered Kenpachi, a handful were remembered for their uncharacteristic deviations from the norm. Kenta Kenpachi was an anomalous Soul in every sense of the word; from his immeasurable Reiatsu, to his gifted intellect, the current holder of the Kenpachi title was an anomaly through and through. However, it wasn’t his monstrous physical strength, nor his masterful Zanjutsu that allowed Kenta the reputation of most formidable Kenpachi to date. In truth, it was everything but what most associated with the Kenpachis that set Kenta apart; a cerebral fighter of the highest caliber, he possessed the ability to be precisely accurate to the exact detail; Kenpachi Murakami’s cunning and machine-like analysis capabilities were his greatest assets, and it was these characteristics that spelled the difference between him and the handful of equally powerful foes who’d dared raise their swords against him. In the face of Otokogi Aijo, it too would measure the difference.

Many believed Kenta to be nothing but a brute, a mindless beast who, like his predecessors, craved only bloodshed and who knew nothing more than the physical brawl; partly true, but so much left for underestimation. What drove Kenta at his core was the battle for intellectual supremacy.
To think that the flex of one’s mere spiritual pressure, even one as potent and with the effect of that of the geezer’s, would be capable of subduing a roaring Takaijigoku (高い地獄, high hell), much less when thrown by Kenta himself, was a fool’s errand. To dismiss Takaijigoku (高い地獄, high hell), and to act so calm and nonchalant to the Kenpachi having gotten ahold of him, the old man had played a careless hand at this most dangerous game. To underestimate Kenta to this degree, whether by choice or by mistake, would not go unpunished.

Of all the actions available to the old man within the minuscule window of time he possessed, he chose to threaten Kenta with the sharp tip of both his enormous Zanpakutō, and usually-wise tongue. Had the geezer gone senile, mistakenly imagining this to be just another teaching incident at the Academy grounds? The old man’s assessment of the situation was all wrong, which left Kenta wondering if the geezer had lost his way? A smidge of disappointment creeped within the Kenpachi as his opponent’s mistakes were made evident. Kenta would save the geezer the embarrassment for a misjudged scolding.
Before the Old Man could speak, the boom of what should have been an enormous explosion roared at the location of where Oto had believed to have sunk the flying hammer; half a blink of an eye later, the Old Man would feel the rounded surface of super-heated steel strike at his exposed body, the colossal blunt force instantly crushing bone and organ alike, eradicating his ribcage, lungs, kidney, liver and causing internal hemorrhage. The heat would disintegrate the flesh of the impacted area, exposing innards. The kinetic energy transferred into Oto would force his body to shift at alarming speed, and yet, the Kenpachi’s grip remained ever so tight and unmoving, resulting in the gruesome amputation of the old man’s left foot, at the base of the ankle. With nothing holding him in place, Oto flew out into the desecrated earth at great speed.

If the old man somehow found a way to survive the ordeal, he’d surely be wondering where his calculations had gone wrong, and what exactly had happened.

Takaijigoku (高い地獄, high hell) was a Zanpakutō with the ability to force anything it touched to explode. Kenpachi Murakami was a Shinigami who’d mastered his Zanpakuto’s Shikai, learning every little bit of its power, and over the many centuries, taking them to the next level through unorthodox applications. One of these techniques, known as Kamikaze no Gōka (カミカゼの業火, kamikaze hellfire), gave Kenta the ability to cause the hammer itself to explode: activatable while the weapon was within his grip or from afar. He’d used this same ability when counteracting Oto’s reversal of the erupting Millon Escudo, which had caused the damage to his own arm; a fact the old man mistook for the casting of Itto Kaso, with the yellow glow of his hand having been an otherwise different and unnamed Kidō spell. Further refinement of this technique allowed Kenta to manipulate the magnitude, size, and direction of the explosions.

And so, the energy and power of what should have been a cataclysmic explosion were instead focused and used as propellers, transforming Takaijigoku into a literal rocket, navigated precisely to its target: the not so far, unsuspecting Otokogi. No amount of Oto’s power would be enough to thwart the attack as the hammer pushed through the gravitational force with ease. Had the Kenpachi calculated and executed every misdirected detail on purpose, or was it all just a lucky coincidence? Questions few had the life left in them to peruse when facing the Kenpachi.

Unless the Old Man could make miracles happen and pull a literal elephant from a hat, of which Kenta wished so badly would be the case, the lithe Kenpachi would turn to face Oto — who should lay gasping for dear life on the scorched earth, footless — with his trusty and explosive hammer secured and resting over his shoulder. Kenta would look down upon the Old Man like he did with everyone who’d come before: grinning and with a condescending expression that said—

I’ve got you beat and there’s nothing you can do about it.​