"Hey. You two done fighting yet?!"
Squad Eleven’s captain strode forward, voice rough and impatient, like he’d just been forced to wait in line for food.
"Yeah. Finished," Madara Ikkaku answered imdiately.
The captain’s gaze locked onto Fujimoto Tōma.
"So you’re the one looking for ?"
"Yeah," Tōma said casually. "Heard from my captain that you’re strong. Ca to see for myself."
"You an Takeda Retsu?"
For the first ti, the captain actually paused to think. The na clearly carried weight.
"Yeah."
A slow, feral grin spread across his face.
"If you’re one of hers... I guess I don’t need to let you land a few free hits first."
Tōma blinked.
He lets people do what now?
"...I’ll pass," Tōma said.
"Good," the captain growled. "Then let’s kill each other properly."
His chakra pressure exploded outward.
Buildings nearby cracked and partially collapsed. Watching shinobi scattered instantly, clearly used to this kind of chaos.
Tōma studied him.
Strong. Very strong.
But not unreachable.
Then Tōma’s chakra surged in response.
The air twisted as both pressures collided, neither side giving ground.
From a distance, observers just... stopped functioning.
Soone matching their captain’s raw pressure?
Kurosawa Kenpachi threw his head back and laughed like a storm breaking loose.
Finally. A real fight.
Then he charged.
No stance. No form. Just raw killing intent behind a descending blade.
Even before the strike landed, compressed chakra pressure cut toward Tōma.
Tōma stopped holding back and t it head-on.
Steel scread.
Shock ran through his grip.
...Huh. First ti I’ve lost a pure strength clash.
The gap wasn’t huge. But it was real.
Kenpachi’s grin widened. Then he attacked again. And again. And again.
Wild. Inefficient. Full of openings.
And completely overwhelming.
Because against that level of raw force, exploiting openings ant nothing if you couldn’t survive the hit.
Kenpachi fought like a disaster given muscle and bone.
But Tōma wasn’t most people.
"Second Form: Eightfold Crown."
His blade multiplied into overlapping afterimages. Half blocked Kenpachi’s strike. The rest cut forward.
Blood sprayed.
Multiple shallow wounds opened across Kenpachi’s torso.
Tōma clicked his tongue.
Tougher than expected.
Kenpachi stared at the blood.
Then laughed harder.
"Good... GOOD!"
Pain sharpened his focus. Excited him.
"Do all Squad Eleven fighters hide their real strength?" Tōma asked suddenly.
"Huh?"
"You’re still holding back," Tōma said, nodding toward the eyepatch.
Kenpachi chuckled and removed it.
"Yeah. Would be rude not to go all out now."
Behind them, Ikkaku, Yumichika, and Renji stared in shock.
Even sealed, their captain was captain-level.
Unsealed?
Different monster.
Nearby, a small pink-haired girl crouched happily, chin in hands.
"Ken-chan’s having fun."
Grassuki Yachiru.
anwhile, Yumichika muttered, "The training grounds are gone... and this pressure is going to attract every captain..."
"Fight’ll be over before they arrive," Ikkaku said confidently. "Unsealed captain is on another level."
"Is that everything?" Tōma asked.
"Yep."
Tōma smiled slightly.
Then his chakra pressure fully unfolded.
For the first ti since his deepest training sessions, he stopped holding back completely.
Two apex-level chakra signatures detonated across the capital.
Across the city, captains turned and moved instantly.
Even the Supre Commander was on the way.
"...Guess we need to finish fast," Tōma said.
"Don’t care," Kenpachi roared, slashing out a mountain-cleaving shockwave.
Tōma casually flicked his blade and erased it.
"Kenpachi," Tōma said quietly.
"Hm?"
"...I’m a little disappointed."
Kenpachi’s rage ignited instantly.
He vanished forward and struck again.
Tōma dismantled every strike with effortless movent.
Watching him, Tōma felt it clearly.
Kenpachi was pure.
Power. Pressure. Instinct.
No refinent.
And against Tōma?
That wasn’t enough.
Kenpachi couldn’t overpower him completely. Their chakra pressure was roughly equal.
But skill?
The gap was enormous.
"I’ll tell you sothing," Tōma said quietly. "Weapons let humans defeat kings of beasts."
Kenpachi barely heard him, lost in frustration.
Then Tōma sighed and struck once.
Kenpachi barely blocked. Still got blasted back.
Tōma rose into the air.
Below, ikyō Shisui ignited with crimson chakra flas.
"Control your chakra," Tōma said. "Control isn’t suppression. It’s how you strike harder."
The blade expanded into a massive fla construct stretching over a hundred ters.
"Fourth Form: Heaven-Burning."
He swung.
A colossal fla blade crashed downward.
Kenpachi didn’t dodge.
His face lit with joy.
Finally. Direct collision.
He raised his blade with both hands.
"Sword Style: Twofold Sever!"
Golden chakra pressure roared upward.
For a mont, both forces held.
Then the flas devoured the gold.
Fire swallowed Kenpachi completely.
The blast incinerated the battlefield.
Luckily, most Squad Eleven shinobi had already fled.
Otherwise... casualties would have been catastrophic.
"Captain!!"
Smoke. Fire. Silence.
Then figures appeared overhead.
Captains. All of them.
They stared at Tōma.
dical Corps vice-captain.
Standing at the center of a battlefield that looked like the aftermath of a natural disaster.
Then Tōma looked toward the front.
The Supre Commander, Yamamoto Genryūsai, stood there with his staff.
"...Apologies, Commander," Tōma said calmly. "Sparring match. Nothing more."
Silence followed.
Because the result was obvious.
Kenpachi had lost.
Then—
"Not over."
Fire parted.
Kenpachi stepped out. Burned. Smoking. Still standing.
"I can still fight."
"I said it’s over," Tōma replied. "Fighting you was... boring."
Kenpachi froze.
"If you want another fight," Tōma continued, smiling faintly, "learn to control your chakra without relying on that limiter. If you can’t control your own power, you’re not strong."
Kenpachi said nothing.
But sothing inside him shifted.
For the first ti, he didn’t want to keep swinging.
He wanted to get stronger.
Because he’d finally found soone worth chasing.
And he wasn’t enough.
Nearby, the Commander surveyed the destruction and inhaled slowly.
"No casualties. So no disciplinary punishnt," he said.
Pause.
"But repair costs will be deducted from your salaries. And next ti... pick an empty training zone."
"...Understood," Tōma said.
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