"Unknown Shinigami…"
"My name is Zaraki Kenpachi…"
"Now come—fight me to the death!!"
No one expected it.
Before Isane and Chōjirō could even recover from the shock of Great Fire Extinguishes the Fan awakening—
The man whose blood had been ignited by that sky-piercing fire pillar—
Zaraki Kenpachi—
had already brought Yachiru and his two followers straight to the source and thrown down a challenge the moment he saw Bai Chen.
"Who the hell is this…?"
"Zaraki? Never heard of him…"
"He's probably one of Zaraki Ward's 'big shots'…"
"But that beast-man's aura is dangerous!"
The instant Kenpachi's savage presence washed over them, the Shinigami—two vice-captains included—went pale.
Everyone except Bai Chen felt the same thing:
Threat.
A pressure that didn't feel like a "strong ruffian."
It felt like a predator.
But compared to everyone else—
Bai Chen's handsome face lit up with genuine surprise, almost delighted.
No anger. No irritation.
Because to him, this wasn't "some random thug."
This was the future Zaraki squad—Kenpachi, Ikkaku, Yumichika, and the little Yachiru—still living wild in the lawless districts, still drunk on killing.
If not for the disturbance caused by Great Fire Extinguishes the Fan…
They wouldn't have crossed paths with the Gotei 13 at all.
Bai Chen's sign-in had created a butterfly effect.
The timeline was being dragged forward.
Sasakibe Moves to Lock Them Down
"Bai Chen…"
"You know these people?"
Sasakibe Chōjirō's brows furrowed. His eyes swept the group over and over.
A bald man.
A little girl.
A pretty, effeminate man.
And a beast of a man with a killer grin.
The composition made no sense—too strange, too wrong.
And the moment Kenpachi's challenge came out, Sasakibe's instincts slammed into "threat" mode.
He made the call instantly.
"All units—listen!"
"Seal off this area!"
"Until we confirm their identity and intent…"
"Not one of them leaves!"
At his order, the Shinigami split outward in practiced formation—Kidō Corps, 1st Division, 13th Division—locking the entire scorched battlefield down like a net.
Retreat paths erased.
A containment ring formed in seconds.
Ikkaku sneered, gripping his spear-like weapon tighter.
"So you're using numbers to bully a few of us?"
"Shinigami… you really are even more annoying than the rumors!"
Beside him, Yumichika lifted his blade calmly—outnumbered, but not even slightly afraid.
Yachiru planted her hands on her hips atop Kenpachi's shoulder, sticking her tongue out at the encirclement like it was a joke.
That arrogance only made the air sharper—
Until Bai Chen stepped forward and cut straight through the tension.
"Vice-Captain Sasakibe…"
"Call off the encirclement. Have everyone withdraw."
"I'll handle them."
Sasakibe hesitated.
Not because he doubted Bai Chen—
But because his instincts screamed that this beast-man wasn't "normal."
That he was captain-class trouble.
Bai Chen's tone stayed casual.
"They came for me."
"So I'll settle it."
Then he glanced at the giant flame fan in his left hand, mouth curling slightly.
"Perfect timing."
"I'll use them to test my Zanpakutō."
Heat Pressure Detonates
Boom—!!
Bai Chen didn't move.
But his spiritual pressure exploded outward like a furnace door being kicked open.
Not green this time.
Not Wood Dragon.
This pressure was crimson—like countless flames stacked together into a real firestorm.
The air ignited.
The heat spiked violently past tolerance.
Shinigami around the perimeter began sweating instantly, faces tightening as they backed away without even waiting for orders—creating a wide combat circle by sheer survival instinct.
Isane's eyes trembled.
"Bai Chen… do you really not need support?"
"You're going to fight all of them alone?"
Bai Chen smiled, unbothered.
"Don't worry."
"They're not the type to swarm."
Isane blinked.
"…You're sure?"
This was the Rukongai. Ambushes, cheap shots, ganging up—wasn't that the norm?
But Bai Chen was right.
Only Kenpachi stepped forward.
Yachiru, Ikkaku, and Yumichika stayed back, watching like spectators at a feast.
Kenpachi's grin widened.
"Hah… Shinigami…"
"You look like you know us."
Bai Chen raised the Great Fire Extinguishes the Fan and pointed it at Kenpachi.
"You're Zaraki, right?"
"I'm not patient."
"So when we start…"
"Swing that chipped Zanpakutō as hard as you can."
That wasn't a request.
It was bait.
Kenpachi's expression darkened in irritation.
"I thought you might be different…"
"But you're just like the rest—arrogant."
"The thing I hate most…"
"Is someone looking down on my swing!!"
He snorted, lifted his long, chipped blade with one hand, and the sun threw its jagged shadow across Bai Chen like an omen.
Bai Chen didn't let up.
"Come on."
"Show me whether a beast like you…"
"Is even qualified to snarl at Shinigami."
That was the spark.
Kenpachi's eyes flared.
"DIE, SHINIGAMI!!"
He roared like a demon, vanished into motion, and arrived in front of Bai Chen with a brutal, downward chop—
BOOOOM—!!
A golden flood of power poured off his strike like an inverted waterfall, crushing down with enough weight to split the earth.
At the exact moment the blade pressure was about to swallow him—
Bai Chen calmly raised the flame fan.
Clang.
He blocked.
And he triggered the Uchiha war fan's hidden passive—
Rebound
What happened next made everyone's brains freeze.
The golden sword pressure didn't explode outward.
It didn't bloom into a shockwave.
Instead—
It was dragged.
Pulled in.
Absorbed into the fan like water being swallowed by a whirlpool.
Kenpachi's pupils expanded to their limit.
"…What?"
"My full-power swing…"
"It got eaten?!"
But that wasn't even the end.
After absorption, the war fan behaved like a mirror.
It compressed the stolen power, condensed it brutally—
Then—
reflected it back as a red, razor-bright blast.
BOOOOM—!!
The rebounded strike slammed into Kenpachi's side.
In the span of a few seconds, the attacker became the one sent flying—his massive body launched backward like a cannonball.
Bai Chen?
Not a scratch.
He didn't even slide.
The battlefield went dead silent.
Everyone stared, unable to process it.
How could Kenpachi—who had been the one chopping down—
be the one blown away?
And how could a Zanpakutō do something that insane?
Absorb. Compress. Reflect.
This wasn't just a weapon.
This was—
a divine weapon.
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