A head of spiky black hair, a vicious face, and a terrible scar running across the left side of his face from top to bottom.
More importantly, on the man's shoulder perched a cute little girl with pink hair.
With so many obvious traits gathered together, if Higashino Shuuichi still couldn't recognize who this man was, then he really had wasted his life as a transmigrator.
"Zaraki Kenpachi."
Higashino Shuuichi halted, recalling the Reishi Soldiers he had summoned back into Taoyuan.
If it was this man, there was no need for all that trouble.
Because like Unohana Retsu, Zaraki cared less about killing an opponent and more about enjoying the fight.
Especially Zaraki—he far surpassed her in that regard.
If he could, he would even willingly suppress his reiatsu to match his opponent and fight to the death.
But the special eyepatch designed to restrain his power hadn't yet been invented. For now, Zaraki could only rely on instinct to hold himself back.
So against him, Higashino Shuuichi knew—all he had to do was provide the thrill of battle, and Zaraki would restrain himself as much as possible.
"Perfect. For twenty years, giving my opponent the thrill of battle is all I've done!"
He thought back to his decades of beatings under Unohana Retsu. His reiatsu hadn't grown much, but his combat technique had leapt by bounds.
"I heard from Yachiru you're a shinigami?"
Instead of anger at his earlier attack, Zaraki leapt straight in front of him.
"You're not one of the three thugs causing trouble here, are you?"
Higashino Shuuichi didn't answer directly.
"Of course not! Ken-chan already killed the strongest of those three annoying guys!"
Yachiru Kusajishi chimed in proudly from his shoulder.
Though Zaraki hadn't yet inherited the Eleventh Division's title, centuries ago, when he met Unohana Retsu, he left her with a scar.
From that day, the first Kenpachi secretly passed the name to him. From then on, he had called himself Zaraki Kenpachi.
"I was planning to fight the other two as well. But Yachiru said she found you—and you're stronger than them. Seems she was right."
He raised his massive Zanpakutō toward Higashino Shuuichi, grinning savagely. "So, you'll be my opponent!"
At this point, Zaraki still couldn't sense reiatsu. Otherwise, he'd know Higashino Shuuichi's power was nowhere near his own.
For Zaraki, the only measure of strength was instinct.
If his gut told him someone was strong, then they were worth fighting.
And since Higashino Shuuichi had cut down those two criminals instantly, Zaraki deemed him worthy.
Higashino Shuuichi, knowing his nature, wasted no breath.
"As you wish!"
Even as he spoke, he lunged forward with a fierce slash. His blade stopped less than a centimeter from Zaraki's chin, but the force carried through, carving a thin line of blood there.
Against this battle beast with beast-like intuition, flashy kidō was pointless. Sword against sword—that was the only way.
And it worked.
But to Zaraki, such wounds were only torches to stoke his fire.
"Hahahaha!"
His booming laughter rang out, full of joy.
Interesting! This shinigami!
In an instant, their fight erupted. In less than three minutes, their blades clashed more than five hundred times.
The air was filled with nothing but sonic cracks and sparks bursting from the colliding blades.
"Splendid!"
Another exchange—and Zaraki knocked Higashino Shuuichi into the air, his arms already numb and his guard broken.
"Bakudō #37, Tsuriboshi!"
Higashino Shuuichi chanted quickly. Behind him in midair, a huge net of reishi appeared. He landed on it, sprang off, and narrowly blocked Zaraki's follow-up strike.
Then came another whirlwind exchange, but this time, Zaraki noticed something was wrong within a minute.
"My movements… slower?"
Cold seeped into his body. Though the season was warming, frost escaped his lips.
Zen Heisha, Chimō—Ice!
The ability could be woven not only into kidō, but also into hakuda and zanjutsu.
But against someone whose reiatsu dwarfed his own, even one restraining himself, it had taken a long time before it finally took effect.
"Too late to notice now."
Unless he stopped holding back immediately.
Higashino Shuuichi added silently.
But with Zaraki's nature, that would never happen.
The greater the challenge, the more thrilling the fight.
The rational choice was to pull back, wait out the status, then return to close combat. If he had, Higashino Shuuichi's exhausted arms would have meant certain defeat.
But Zaraki Kenpachi was Zaraki Kenpachi. He chose recklessness.
"Then let's see whether you freeze me first—or I cut you down first!"
Attack. Attack. And nothing but attack!
He ignored the mounting wounds from his slowing body. His eyes saw only one thing: to cut down Higashino Shuuichi before his body failed.
And Higashino Shuuichi did not retreat either. He knew if he broke away now, Zaraki would change tactics.
If that happened, he'd lose his only chance at victory.
So, before Yachiru's eyes, the two men went mad.
Blood and flesh flew. Neither relented.
At last, Zaraki's sword pierced Higashino Shuuichi's chest. At the same instant, Higashino Shuuichi's blade touched Zaraki's brow.
It looked like Zaraki had the upper hand.
But his body was now covered in frost, frozen stiff.
"Hah… I drew with Zaraki Kenpachi…"
As darkness closed in, Higashino Shuuichi smiled inwardly.
Even if it was the suppressed Zaraki, it was still Zaraki Kenpachi.
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