110 The Next Promise  

The intense battle continued from noon until evening.

"Huff, huff..."

Only those with immense spiritual pressure like Zaraki and Ailin could sustain such a high-intensity, prolonged fight.

However, compared to Zaraki's tattered clothes and wounded body, Ailin remained impeccable, with not even a speck of dust on the red floral scarf around his neck. Their difference in strength was evident at a glance.

" Zaraki, it's about time. The next strike will be my last. If you can withstand it, you live. If not, then you die."

Raising his Zanpakutō high, Ailin unleashed his spiritual pressure against Zaraki for the first time in their battle. Blue spiritual pressure coalesced around Ailin's blade, and then he struck down at Zaraki —

Boom!

A blue slashing wave hundreds of meters tall tore through the sky, as if cleaving the world in two, hurtling toward Zaraki at incredible speed.

"Raaah!"

Zaraki roared, his golden spiritual pressure erupting as he channeled it into the Zanpakutō gripped in both hands, unleashing a charge against Ailin's strike.

Boom—Rumble—

"Aaaaah..."

The Shinigami of the 11th Division watching from ten miles away hastily used Shunpo to flee.

Fortunately, they weren't directly facing Ailin's strike, only affected by the shockwave from the two captains' final clash. Though blown away, none perished from the force.

After the shockwave subsided, a trench hundreds of meters long appeared before Ailin. At its end lay the battered and bloodied Zaraki, who had clearly been defeated and blasted away hundreds of meters by Ailin's overwhelmingly powerful strike.

Despite his grievous injuries, Zaraki still gripped his sword, retaining his charging stance.

"Impressive fighting spirit."

Sheathing his Zanpakutō, Ailin used Shunpo to appear by Zaraki's side, praising him.

Zaraki had lost consciousness after that final clash but persisted in standing through sheer force of will.

"Zaraki, I acknowledge you. Next time, I won't just use sword skills, but my spiritual pressure to battle you. Train hard, and let me see how much of my spiritual pressure you can force me to use ten years from now."

Ailin extended his right hand, enveloping Zaraki in a green Kaidō light that rapidly healed his wounds. However, Kaidō wasn't omnipotent - or rather, Ailin's current Kaidō skill couldn't fully heal Zaraki in a short time.

After sensing Zaraki's spiritual pressure stabilize, Ailin glanced in a certain direction, only retracting his gaze after seeming to notice some flickering shadows there.

"Little Sword..."

With the battle concluded, Yachiru Kusajishi and Kiganjo, being closest, arrived first.

To Ailin's surprise, Yachiru Kusajishi's expression held not concern but joy upon seeing Zaraki.

"Wonderful, Little Sword has enjoyed the thrill of battle again."

Hearing Yachiru Kusajishi's words, Kiganjo stared at her, astonished by the bizarre relationship between her and Zaraki.

The Vice-Captain had sustained such grave injuries, yet Yachiru Kusajishi only cared that Zaraki had enjoyed battling?

Shaking his head, Kiganjo decided to ask Ailin himself since Yachiru Kusajishi wouldn't. "Captain Ailin, what is Vice-Captain Zaraki's current condition?"

"I've used Kaidō to heal him; his condition is now stable. You and Yachiru Kusajishi take Zaraki to the 4th Division for Captain Unohana's follow-up treatment.

Also, with Zaraki recovering these next few days, you'll be responsible for the 11th Division's duties. If any issues arise that you can't handle, have someone come to the Kuchiki estate to find me."

"Understood, Captain Ailin."

Watching Kiganjo and the other 11th Division members escort Zaraki back to Seireitei, Ailin stroked his chin thoughtfully.

If he hadn't misheard, Yachiru Kusajishi had called Zaraki "Little Sword"?

Could it be that after Unohana defeated Zaraki who suppressed his spiritual pressure, she felt that she was not strong enough to take on the title of the strongest Shinigami "Kenpachi" and gave the name "Kenpachi" to Zaraki? Did Yachiru hear it?

So as Zaraki's Zanpakutō spirit, Yachiru Kusajishi called him "Little Sword"?

Come to think of it, calling Zaraki without the "Kenpachi" title did seem odd.

Should he consider letting Zaraki take over as the 11th Division Captain, becoming the true " Zaraki Kenpachi"?

After all, Ailin was just a figurehead captain in the current 11th Division.

But after some thought, Ailin shook his head. Though he had obtained the "Kenpachi" name by becoming the 11th Division Captain rather than through the traditional challenge to the previous Kenpachi, Sōya Azashiro, Ailin didn't want to disrupt that tradition.

At this rate, for Zaraki to take the "Kenpachi" name from him would be extremely difficult.

The real question was whether this once-per-decade challenge could allow Zaraki to fully unleash his spiritual pressure and learn the name of his Zanpakutō.

And who were those shadows lurking earlier - Sōsuke Aizen and Gin?

How interesting.

***

"Your sensory abilities are truly formidable, Captain Ailin."

Two black-cloaked figures emerged from the shadows.

"Gin, do you think Captain Ailin noticed us?"

"Who knows?"

The conversation revealed these two observers of Ailin and Zaraki's battle to be 5th Division Vice-Captain Sōsuke Aizen and 4th Seat Gin Ichimaru.

Ailin's attempt to have Shinji Hirako place trust in Sōsuke Aizen had clearly disgusted Aizen. Faced with Hirako's occasional attention and frequent reminders, Aizen had to remain by Hirako's side during the day, properly fulfilling his vice-captain duties.

After all, Aizen's Kyōka Suigetsu could only control the five senses. He could make one person see another as a dragon, see its body, hear its roar, smell its breath, feel its scales.

Previously, when Hirako ignored Aizen, he only needed a replacement to follow Hirako while controlling Hirako's perception to see the replacement as Aizen himself.

But now, with Aizen's current abilities, he couldn't make Hirako think his "replacement" had answered his questions. So Aizen could only escape Hirako's watch at night to secretly pursue his own research.

Tonight, sensing powerful spiritual pressure in the Rukongai, they had rushed over to discover the battle between 11th Division Captain Ailin and Vice-Captain Zaraki.

However, Aizen hadn't expected that even from this distance, wearing spirit-concealing cloaks he had made, Ailin seemed to have noticed them.

Having only directly clashed once with Ailin, who had kicked and injured him, Aizen asked his subordinate Gin, who knew more about their former teacher.

"Oh? Gin, after training under Captain Ailin for so many years, you still don't understand his true abilities?"

"Captain Aizen overestimates me." Gin shook his head, his mind flashing back to that crimson space, feeling a tinge of daze. "Captain Ailin's power has already surpassed my comprehension... At the very least, I don't think even Captain-Commander Yamamoto could defeat him."

"I see..." Aizen's smile didn't falter. "It seems Captain Ailin did indeed notice us."

"Oh? He noticed us?"

Gin narrowed his eyes, asking in a nonchalant manner. "But Captain Aizen, didn't you just release Kyōka Suigetsu? You mean even that couldn't deceive Captain Ailin?"

As Aizen's most trusted subordinate, Gin knew of Kyōka Suigetsu's true ability from Aizen. Complete hypnosis through controlling the five senses! Anyone who witnessed Kyōka Suigetsu's release would forever be under Aizen's hypnosis.

"Shatter, Kyōka Suigetsu" wasn't the release command but the counter-command to dispel the illusion and end the hypnosis. Aizen maintained a constant Shikai, hypnotizing anyone who saw his Zanpakutō's release.

Earlier, when Ailin seemed to notice them and glanced over, Gin saw Aizen draw his sword. So even in the dim light, Ailin must have witnessed Kyōka Suigetsu's release and fallen under Aizen's hypnosis.

Gin asked to determine if Aizen could sense when an enemy was hypnotized.

"Heh, Gin, don't place too much faith in a Zanpakutō's abilities. For Shinigami, battle is a contest of spiritual pressure. Kyōka Suigetsu's sensory control is undeniably powerful, but against foes with greater spiritual pressure than me, its effectiveness is severely limited.

Just now, I momentarily affected Captain Ailin, making him think we had fled. But that's as far as I could go... Captain Ailin truly deserves his title as the strongest Shinigami. In a direct fight, I'm no match for him. What a pity."

Gin sighed. "If only Captain Aizen's abilities could work for an extended time on Captain Ailin, our chances would improve."

"Gin, don't be so pessimistic. We're both currently in a phase of rapid growth. Not being able to now doesn't mean never. Gin, you must believe that once we possess that thing, none shall stand in our way!"

As those final words left Aizen's mouth, his eyes became coldly indifferent, arrogant.

"Isn't that only natural?" Gin narrowed his eyes in a smile. "If I didn't believe in Lord Aizen, why would I betray Captain Ailin to join you?"

"Indeed. Gin, one day in the future, you'll take pride in your choice. Keep watching my back, and follow closely behind me... If you fall behind, I won't stop to wait for you, Gin!"

"Isn't that only natural?"

Their voices faded into the darkness, leaving only some discarded Shinigami and Rukongai resident clothing on the ground.

***

After battling Zaraki, Ailin could enjoy another decade of peace.

His fight had awakened more of Zaraki's suppressed spiritual pressure, making it erupt like a volcano whenever Zaraki thought of battle, enough to overwhelm enemies.

As a result, not only did Zaraki battle lust diminish considerably, but the other division members were often intimidated by his immense spiritual pressure as well.

When they reported this to Ailin, he visited Kisuke Urahara and had him create a special eyepatch to absorb Zaraki's spiritual pressure.

Unsurprisingly, Zaraki greatly appreciated Ailin's gift. With the eyepatch, he could revel in combat freely.

Seeing how much Zaraki enjoyed it, Ailin told him to tie bells into his hair, so their ringing would reveal his position to enemies during battle, allowing them to better lock onto him for an even more enjoyable fight.

After resolving Zaraki's issue, Ailin returned to lounging at the Kuchiki estate. Meanwhile, newly equipped Zaraki became even more absorbed in ravenous combat. After all, Yachiru Kusajishi had informed him that Captain Ailin acknowledged his strength.

For their next decade battle, Ailin would use his spiritual pressure. This was both a burden and motivation for Zaraki.

To avoid dying in the decade challenge, he had to become as powerful as possible in these ten years.

Ailin had told Zaraki not to worry about spiritual pressure, as he wouldn't use more than Zaraki could handle.

Zaraki needed to improve his swordsmanship. This time, by using the two-handed sword grip he had learned from the old Yamamoto, allowing strikes over ten times more powerful than one-handed, Zaraki had barely survived his fight with Captain Ailin. If he couldn't further elevate his swordsmanship by next time, he might truly die.

Death didn't scare Zaraki. But he didn't want to die by Ailin's hand.

What Zaraki found most unforgettable was his battle with Yachiru Unohana over four centuries ago. It was the first time he experienced the thrill of fighting a powerful opponent.

Battling to the point of frenzy, slaughtering in ecstasy. Regrettably, being too weak then, only he had enjoyed that fight.

Zaraki wanted to grow stronger, strong enough to fight that woman again. He would return to her, tenfold, the pleasure she had brought him.