The Head Captain himself was having a headache.It wasn't that he didn't want to give a harsher punishment, but did Zaraki Kenpachi look like the type to obediently sit in a prison cell?
Of course not.
And if they did try to lock Kenpachi up, only the deepest levels of the prison might hold him.
But when the punishment ended, would Kenpachi even remain as the 11th Division's captain?
Wouldn't he just rebel against the Gotei 13 entirely? And during his imprisonment… could they expect the 11th Division to behave? These were all serious problems.
And then there was Natsuro, an even bigger headache.
It wasn't like Yamamoto didn't know about Natsuro's sparring match with Unohana in Muken, the underground prison of the Central Great Underground, since normally he was the only one who could enter there.
Unohana's ability to go in was a special privilege granted by him. So when someone went into Muken for a fight, of course he was notified.
He had even asked Unohana about the result, and about Natsuro's temperament.
The answer he got... free-spirited, dislikes work, and best not to provoke.
If you made him angry, no one could predict what he might do.
And Yamamoto trusted the judgment of the First Kenpachi, so that only deepened his headache.
Handle this poorly, and the Seireitei could end up with two extremely powerful enemies. In that case, this token punishment was the only choice.
Neither of them cared much about their salaries anyway, so it wouldn't anger them.
And indeed, that was the case.
As the 4th Division's vice-captain, Natsuro's pay was high.
The Gotei 13's currency was interchangeable with the Human World's yen, if he went to the living world, he could swipe his card freely at a 1:1 rate.
But Natsuro didn't have high material needs, he just occasionally bought single-player games from the Human World to play.
Games weren't expensive, and even if the Head Captain deducted his entire salary, he could just borrow from Unohana.
For him, the money was for buying games and occasionally enjoying gourmet food in the Human World.
For Unohana… her salary was just a meaningless number, she almost never used it. If Natsuro wanted to borrow, she'd probably just toss it to him outright, no repayment needed.
So the Head Captain's ruling was basically just giving both Natsuro and Kenpachi a face-saving step down. Natsuro naturally had no reason to refuse.
Similarly, Kenpachi had no reason to object. Salary? What's that? Can you use it to get someone to fight him? If not, then what good is it?
Thus, the "punishment" was decided.
Natsuro glanced at the surrounding captains, most still couldn't believe what they'd just seen.
Kenpachi ranked among the strongest of the Gotei 13's captains, and yet he had lost?
Impossible!
Even Aizen, who had always spoken highly of Natsuro, had assumed his strength was mostly in raw talent, he hadn't expected his actual combat power to be this terrifying.
Aizen's gaze swept over the utterly destroyed 11th Division barracks. His eyes gleamed faintly, and a strange smile curved his lips.
In the end, he smiled at Natsuro, gave a slight nod, and followed the rest of the captains away.
Natsuro saw that smile and felt as if Aizen had just discovered something interesting, but he couldn't guess what. He simply nodded at Kenpachi and left.
Kenpachi, watching Natsuro's departing figure, was grinning in excitement. Though he was a little disappointed in himself, now he had a clear mountain to climb, and for a battle junkie like him, that was the best thing possible.
Before, Kenpachi's life had been filled with boredom, wanting to fight, but never finding a real opponent. He had no goal, other than perhaps finding someone worthy to fight.
Now, he'd found one. And he was the challenger. The goal was clear.
The 11th Division members saw the excitement on their captain's face and knew, he was happy.
They exchanged glances. Well then… forget the wrecked barracks. As long as the captain was happy, it was fine.
"What are you thinking about?" Ikkaku slapped the dazed Renji on the shoulder.
Renji rubbed his head without a hint of irritation, clearly used to that kind of greeting. "You know I joined the Shinō Academy the same year as him, right?"
"Yeah, but your gap is… pretty huge," Ikkaku said with a smirk.
"I only just realized Natsuro's strength was this crazy," Renji said with a bitter smile. Back then, he'd even challenged Natsuro, only to be instantly crushed every time. Still, he hadn't thought the gap was this enormous.
Maybe Natsuro hadn't been this strong back then, but he certainly wasn't weak.
Which meant, he had never once gone all out against him.
Renji suddenly remembered their internship mission, and his expression turned strange.
Back then, Natsuro probably could've handled those Hollows alone. The reason he didn't might have been… to avoid revealing his true power. Maybe… to avoid being forced to graduate early?
Seriously, Renji felt like he could never understand Natsuro's thinking. He sighed. "I used to think I could catch up to him…"
"You still can," Ikkaku said.
"Huh?" Renji looked at him.
Ikkaku grinned. "He's strong, sure. But if you give up chasing him, then you're giving up on yourself. Even if you can't catch up, you shouldn't quit before trying."
Renji stared at him, then a spark lit in his eyes. He nodded hard. "Got it!"
"Good," Ikkaku said with a satisfied smile.
And so, the commotion came to an end.
From this day on, Natsuro's name spread completely through the Gotei 13. If there were still people who hadn't heard of him before, now… there were none.
And everyone was asking one question:Why was someone with his power still serving as vice-captain of the 4th Division?
The 3rd Division's captain's seat was still vacant!
No one could understand, but there was no news of a captain transfer, so it remained a mystery.
What they didn't know was, the Head Captain had wanted Natsuro to take the 3rd Division captaincy. But that depended on Natsuro's willingness, and they couldn't just force the title on him.
And if he did take the post and then did nothing…
Well… maybe that wouldn't be a problem either, considering the 3rd Division had been functioning fine with both captain and vice-captain seats vacant.
Still, in the end, the Head Captain remembered Natsuro's lazy personality and abandoned the idea.
In the meantime, the 11th Division headquarters needed repairs.
And naturally, that job fell to the 4th Division.
Because the 4th Division wasn't just the medical squad, it was also logistics.
Normally, such a large repair job would draw grumbling from the 4th Division. Even they didn't like this kind of workload.
But this time, every 4th Division member arrived with their head held high.
Because the one who destroyed the place was their vice-captain!
And not only that, their vice-captain had defeated the captain of the combat division.
When had a logistics division ever beaten a combat division? And not just a vice-captain defeating some squad member, a vice-captain beating a combat division's captain!
After their initial disbelief came deep pride, they were proud to be in the 4th Division.
Unofficially, it was noted that before this, most 4th Division members had been easygoing, noncompetitive types. After this? The fighting spirit in the squad skyrocketed.
And not just that, during recruitment, they suddenly got applications from highly skilled fighters with zero healing skill, all wanting to join the 4th Division.
This gave Unohana quite a headache. In the end, she was forced to impose entry requirements on what had once been an open-acceptance division.
For example, anyone wanting to be a medic had to know healing Kidō. Anyone wanting to be in logistics had to have a trade skill, like sewing, or at least brute strength, since logistics work always needed heavy lifting.
"You've really brought me a huge headache…" Unohana was arranging flowers, her tone tinged with helplessness. "...Couldn't you have had that fight with Zaraki Kenpachi in Muken instead?"
"Oh, I don't have the authority to go there on my own," Natsuro replied.
Unohana froze for a moment, true enough. Her access to Muken was by special permission from Head Captain Yamamoto. As a vice-captain, he naturally had no clearance to enter the Central Great Underground Prison.
"…I'll apply to the Head Captain to grant you that privilege," Unohana said after a moment's thought. Given his personality, there would probably be more fights in the future, it was better to prepare for them.
"Alright, thanks," Natsuro said, actually sounding grateful. It was an important privilege, he didn't want to wreck the Seireitei's surface every time he had a match, only to increase his own division's workload. Even he would feel a little embarrassed about that.
"How did it feel, fighting Kenpachi?" Unohana paused in her flower arranging, her expression turning serious.
"How did it feel? Well he was weak," Natsuro answered bluntly.
Unohana fell silent.
But knowing his traits, she had no real rebuttal.
Natsuro's raw power was on par with Kenpachi's, his spiritual pressure even tending to surpass it, and in swordsmanship, Natsuro left Kenpachi so far behind it wasn't even a comparison…
Against someone like Natsuro, Kenpachi really was at a disadvantage. If Kenpachi kept fighting the same way he always had, he'd never beat Natsuro in his lifetime. Even if he removed his seal… it would still be the same.
"Still," Natsuro suddenly said, "while fighting him, I noticed something, something that might relate to unlocking his seal."
"Oh?" Unohana's eyes lit up. This was the one lifelong regret she carried, and now he was telling her there might be hope. The thought sent a ripple through her heart.
"In our final clash, when we went head-to-head and I left him seriously injured…" Natsuro paused, remembering how, even after taking Futen (Burning Heaven) head-on, Kenpachi was still moving around like nothing had happened.
But Natsuro was certain, Kenpachi had been badly hurt. The only reason he could keep moving was because… Zaraki Kenpachi's body was simply a monster.
"He did get stronger," Natsuro said. "His total spiritual pressure didn't increase, but its oppressive force definitely became greater. I'm sure of it."
"So you mean… as long as he's pushed to the brink of death again and again, he can break more and more of his own seal and recover his power?" Unohana's eyes widened, she hadn't expected the answer to be so simple.
But of course she hadn't realized it before, because until now, there had never been anyone strong enough to truly fight Kenpachi. Without opponents, he could never experience the fear of death.
And so, his power had stayed sealed all this time.
Unohana's expression shifted, a flicker of darkness in her gaze, she was thinking of her Bankai. Perhaps she could use it to help Kenpachi quickly recover his strength.
Seeing her face, Natsuro immediately understood her thoughts. "I don't think you need to rush to help him unlock his seal."
Unohana looked at him in puzzlement. This was her long-cherished wish, now there was hope, and he wanted her to wait?
"Because after this fight, Kenpachi will definitely start learning to control his power, how to bring out more of his strength. Then, when he comes to challenge me again… I think it's best to let him be for now," Natsuro said, his eyes glinting.
"I still believe that the seal he put on himself is best removed by himself. The reason he couldn't do it before is because he had no control over his own strength. The day he learns full control, he'll naturally understand how he sealed himself, and therefore how to undo it."
A smile tugged at Natsuro's lips. "And when that day comes, Kenpachi will be even stronger than if you helped him break the seal early."
His eyes now held a spark of battle-lust, because right now, Kenpachi was the only one whose overall stats could match him without forcing him to hold back. Unfortunately, Kenpachi's technique was too poor, making the fight less satisfying.
When Kenpachi honed every aspect of himself… he might be the perfect opponent, one Natsuro could trade blows with endlessly.
He was looking forward to that day.
Unohana felt his fighting spirit and could only smile helplessly. After all that talk, it still came down to him just wanting a good opponent.
Still, she had to admit Natsuro was right, if Kenpachi could remove the seal himself, he'd definitely become stronger. And if it turned out he couldn't, she could always help later.
Thinking this, Unohana smiled. Yes, let's do it that way.
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