Hey guys/girls. Ready for Ash's shikai? Neither am I.

Chapter 17:

Ash's reiatsu exploded and the atmosphere around the two combatants got hotter and hotter. The owner of the black reiatsu became shrouded in it and disappeared from view. Kenpachi himself had no real talent for sensing spiritual pressure but he didn't need to for this fight. It was grossly apparent how powerful Ash's shikai was. His smile faltered ever so slightly, as a thought appeared in his mind. There is a very real possibility that he could die.

The more he thought about it, the less he grinned. By the time Ash became visible again, Zaraki's face stoned to concentration. Ash's appearance didn't change at all but the look in his eyes did.

"Tell me. Do you know the true meaning of darkness?" Ash asked as he took a few deep breaths and looked at his blade. It had been too long since he last used his shikai and felt his power flowing without restrictions.

"What the fuck are ya on about?!" Kenpachi asked as his grin returned, more feral than before.

Before Ash could reply, Kenpachi charged at him and swung his sword downward to bisect the young man. Ash's eyes widen as he once again barely blocked this blow and he jumped back. Kenpachi continued his vicious assault. Striking the boy each time he landed, with each one of his blows parried. Ash found an opening in the relentless onslaught and did a stab towards the man's heart. The sword came within a few inches of Kenpachi's heart before the Captain grabbed Ash's wrist.

He spun on his heel and threw the teen into a nearby wall, causing it to crack heavily. Ash coughed up a little blood and swung his sword in the Captain's direction. Kenpachi's eyes widen when a massive wave a fire shot fourth and flew him with terrifying speeds, destroying everything in its wake. He tried to block the attack, but the immense force forced him back a large distance.

Before he could regain his balance, Ash shunpoed behind him and kneed him in the back of the head. His head violently shot forward and he fell face first into the floor below. Ash shunpoed again but this time onto the roof of a nearby building and swung his sword one more. "Black fang." He whispered as a much larger wave a fire shot down. Within mere seconds, the attack connected and created a massive explosion that dwarfed the surroundings and blew massive amounts of dust around.

Ash figured that this would be enough to down the man for at least a few moments but he was wrong. Almost immediately as the dust cleared, Ash dodged a yellow beam fired at his spot. He lept from rooftop to rooftop with each of them being destroyed by the same attack. He eventually jumped to the center of the ever present dust cloud and with a small battle cry, he gripped his sword with two hand and swung downward. The wave of fire coming from Ash's sword was several times bigger than the first two and moved twice as fast. Ash's eyes widen as he saw a yellow wave of pure energy fired at his fire as some kind of counter. The attacks met with a startling amount of power and fused for a brief instant before exploding.

The explosion encompassed the whole area up to a mile in radius and knocked both fighters back and into whatever was nearest to them. Kenpachi regained his composure first. He looked down at himself and saw the damage of this intense battle. His body was badly burned and most of his shihakusho was missing. His legs felt much heavily and the tiny cuts on his body burned but didn't bleed. "Tch." He could see Ash stumbling to stand from across the battle field and his grin slowly returned.

Ash's whole body screamed in agony. After he used his Shunko to escape Gin, his body drained itself and refused to cooperate. This whole fight he had been forcing his body to move no matter how much he too wanted to give in. He panted heavily and coughed up a little more blood. "I don't know…..how much longer…. I…. Can do this." He scanned the battlefield for his opponent but saw nothing but rubble.

Zaraki's large body gave him away as Kita heard the gravel shift behind him. He rolled forward and narrowly avoided the man's strike, which itself created a small creator and kicked up more dust. While in his roll, he swung his sword up and gave the incoming man a small cut across his battered and burned chest but Kenpachi didn't stop or even slow down. Instead he stomped on Ash's left arm and pinned him to the floor. He delivered a powerful punch to the boy's abdomen and gripped him by the face.

He held the boy up and slammed him headfirst into the floor. He held the boy up once more and prepared to do the same thing again but Ash fired a Black Fang into Kenpachi's face at point blank range. He was freed from the man's grip and swept the Zaraki's feet from under him, leaving him parallel to the ground for a moment but that moment was all Kita needed.

He kneed the Captain in the ribs and heard the sickening sound of some cracking and quickly punched him in the chest which sent the man flying back into the rubble.

As Kenpachi slid to a stop, his body strained to force him massive frame to at least kneel upwards. He then realized something. He could see with both his eyes. His eyepatch which had been suppressing his power had been burned off. He felt a long burn, spanning from his forehead to his right cheek which crossed over his right eye. His reiatsu stared to pour out of his being but even then, it still put a lot of strain on his body to move.

Ash doubled over as he felt Kenpachi's power raise exponentially. He tried to stand but his legs wouldn't let him. He tried to raise his sword to defend himself but his arms refused.

Out the corner of his eye, he saw Kenpachi slowly limping towards him with a visible skull emerged from behind him. Kita's shikai became too much for him to maintain and it deactivated. This gave his body at least a little more energy to move and he willfully and painfully stood up.

"Look Captain. We each can't take this for much longer." Ash ground out as merely speaking sent volumes of pain coursing through his body.

"Yer right. This is the best fight I ever 'ad." Kenpachi stopped 50 meters in front of Ash. "How about we end this? The loser dies, and the winners tells the tale!" Kenpachi yelled and started to chuckle manically. "Now! Prepare yerself! I can see that now you can barely breathe."

"You look a little worst for wear yourself." Ash raised his right arm out. "Get ready Captain! Shunko!"

With Ash's Shunko activated and Kenpachi's eyepatch off, Ash was sure that everyone in the Gotei could feel this battle. They lunged at each other and kicked up a lot of rubble while doing so. They closed the gap instantly and flew by each other. They both turned on a pivot at the same time and swung their swords with every last bit of power they possessed.

-Tōshirō-

He stared on in awe at the crying woman clutching him like her life depended on it. He didn't know what to say or do.

"Shirō-chan…" She whimpered. "Is-." She began but was cut off by the surge of power created by Ash and Kenpachi. "Oh my god! Is that Ash?!" She cried out with concern flooding her voice. She raced off in that direction as the explosion only seemed to expand more and more by the second.

Tōshirō stood stunned for a moment before finally realizing where the women had gone off to. His body unconsciously followed the reiatsu signal but….he couldn't think straight. He needed time to process what he had just saw… He needed to talk to his brother.