Chapter 458 - 458: One Blow!

Even after Kenpachi said that, Yachiru kept both arms wrapped tightly around his leg.

"Ken-chan, you can't fight here. If you break stuff, we'll have to pay a ton of money."

As Kenpachi's lieutenant, Yachiru was effectively the one who handled almost everything in the Eleventh Division.

She knew perfectly well how happy Kenpachi became whenever he found someone strong enough to fight, but starting a battle in the middle of Seireitei was another matter entirely.

If he smashed up the place again, the old man would definitely chew him out afterward.

"Then we'll go somewhere else."

The one who answered wasn't Kenpachi.

It was Cyrus.

Kenpachi and Yachiru both turned toward him.

"Looks like if I don't fight you now, you'll just keep coming back to bother me."

Cyrus regarded Kenpachi calmly.

"That tone…"

Kenpachi stared at him, then suddenly slapped a hand against his forehead.

"You sound just like that Aizen bastard."

Realization dawned across his face.

"Fine. We'll fight outside."

With Yachiru still hanging from his leg, Kenpachi turned and started walking away.

Cyrus watched his rapidly retreating back.

'Actually, even if I beat him, unless I kill him outright, he'll probably just come looking for another fight later.'

Kenpachi really was the troublesome type.

More importantly, Cyrus was beginning to wonder why the man had come looking for him in the first place.

Was this truly Kenpachi's own idea?

Or had someone subtly pushed him in Cyrus's direction?

'Blood?'

Cyrus felt he had concealed himself reasonably well.

Robin and the others, who spent more time around him than anyone, had certainly never mentioned smelling blood or sensing anything unusual.

Still, Cyrus intended to see what Kenpachi was really after.

He started walking.

His pace looked almost leisurely, yet he moved at astonishing speed.

The two left Seireitei one after another, with Kenpachi leading the way as though he knew the route by heart.

That made sense.

Kenpachi had also come from Rukongai, and he had spent far more time roaming these outer districts than he ever had living inside Seireitei.

"This is District Eighty."

At some point, Yachiru had climbed onto Kenpachi's shoulder.

She looked around with interest.

"Ken-chan, you came all the way back here again."

Then she blinked.

"There are more people now."

Kenpachi didn't answer.

His body, however, had begun trembling faintly.

Yachiru could feel it clearly from where she sat.

She knew exactly what it meant.

Excitement.

Not fear.

"I heard you killed everyone who used to live around here."

Cyrus spoke from a short distance behind him.

"You didn't, right?"

Kenpachi gave no response, but Yachiru turned around instead.

"Nope. Ken-chan didn't kill everybody."

She shook her head.

"He only killed the bad ones who attacked people."

"Oh."

Cyrus nodded without much reaction.

"What about you?"

Yachiru peered at him curiously.

"Did you really kill a lot of people?"

Judging purely by Cyrus's appearance, she wouldn't have guessed he was some vicious murderer.

But she trusted Kenpachi completely.

"If Ken-chan says he can smell blood on you, there has to be something there."

"Probably."

Cyrus smiled and glanced toward Kenpachi.

"He said he could smell it from far away. I was wondering whether he was exaggerating."

"He probably wasn't."

Yachiru shook her head.

"Ken-chan's really good at that kind of thing. He loves finding strong people and fighting them."

She sighed.

"But there are fewer and fewer people who can actually give him a good fight now."

"There are plenty inside."

Cyrus gestured toward Seireitei behind them.

"All those captains."

"They avoid Ken-chan."

Yachiru immediately pouted, clearly annoyed by that fact herself.

"So that's how it is."

Cyrus nodded.

Then his figure shifted.

In the blink of an eye, he was walking beside Kenpachi.

"Come to think of it, there's still that ridiculously strong old man, isn't there?"

Cyrus glanced sideways.

"Does he avoid you too?"

Kenpachi stopped dead.

Then he whipped his head toward Cyrus, his mouth spreading into a broad grin that showed every tooth.

"You bastard…"

His excitement surged.

"You want to beat that old man too, don't you?"

Kenpachi laughed.

"I knew it. Some people are just the same."

"You're like me."

"Not really."

Cyrus shook his head.

"I'm just curious about him."

"That's good enough."

Kenpachi's grin widened.

"But if you want to challenge the old man, you'll have to beat me first."

He spoke about the next part without the slightest shame.

"After all, the old bastard's beaten me plenty of times."

Cyrus gave no immediate response.

Yachiru, meanwhile, studied him carefully from Kenpachi's shoulder.

After a while, she tilted her head and shook it, confusion lingering on her face.

…

They eventually reached a barren stretch of land beyond Rukongai's Eightieth District.

Kenpachi stopped and turned.

Yachiru obediently hopped down from his shoulder and skipped off to a safe distance.

Kenpachi drew his sword again.

The jagged blade scraped roughly against the sheath.

He glanced down at it and clicked his tongue.

"Tch. Broke again."

He casually tossed the damaged sheath aside, rested the saw-like Zanpakutō over one shoulder, and fixed Cyrus with an eager stare.

"Come on."

Cyrus raised one hand and crooked a finger toward him.

Kenpachi's grin widened.

He wasn't even drawing his sword?

Perfect.

Kenpachi charged.

His blade rose high above his head before coming down in a brutal overhead slash.

Boom!

But before the sword could fall, Cyrus vanished from Kenpachi's sight.

A blur appeared directly in front of him.

Then Cyrus kicked him squarely in the chest.

The force was overwhelming.

Kenpachi's entire body became a streak across the landscape as he was launched backward.

"Gah!"

Blood sprayed from his mouth while he flew.

Cyrus didn't pursue.

He simply lowered his leg and remained where he stood.

"You already knew there was something abnormal about me."

His voice was calm.

"And you still treated me like one of your usual opponents."

Kenpachi crashed into the ground and skidded for an enormous distance before finally stopping.

He lay face-down and didn't move.

Yachiru stared in shock.

"Ken-chan!"

She instinctively called out in a low voice.

Then—

"Heh… hehehe…"

A muffled laugh came from the motionless body.

"Hahahahaha!"

Kenpachi's laughter grew louder and wilder.

Golden Reiatsu erupted from him.

It surged upward like a massive pillar of light, tearing into the sky.

The violent spiritual pressure sent the surrounding Reishi into chaos, and the disturbance was powerful enough to shake even distant Seireitei.

Of course, the golden pillar itself was visible from there as well.

"What is that?"

Soi Fon leapt onto a rooftop and stared coldly toward the distant column of light.

"That lunatic?"

The Reiatsu was unmistakable.

Wild.

Chaotic.

Enormous.

And completely uncontrolled.

No one except Zaraki Kenpachi possessed spiritual pressure like that.

"Kenpachi Zaraki?"

Aizen was on his way back to the Fifth Division when the eruption caught his attention.

He turned toward it and frowned.

Outside Seireitei.

In the direction of District Eighty?

'Who is he fighting?'

Aizen considered the possibilities.

Then a thought occurred to him.

A very bad one.

His expression changed slightly.

Without another word, he vanished in Shunpo and rushed toward the Fifth Division.

Other captains had also noticed the explosion of Reiatsu.

One after another, they turned toward the distant golden pillar, each forming their own theory about who Kenpachi had found this time.

And among them was the Captain-Commander.

Yamamoto stood with both hands resting on his cane, staring toward the distant column of spiritual pressure.

His mustache twitched.

"That damned brat…"

His eyes narrowed.

"Who's he fighting now?"