Usual Disclaimer: Bleach is owned by their respective holders, but this story is my own.

Arc Two: Chapter 28 – Facing the Strongest, Kenpachi Zaraki

After the Battle (with Renji)

Gehh...my...!

Renji winced as he made to lift his head, only to drop back down to the pavement floor.

"You really are an idiot, Renji Abarai."

The demeaning tone came from his current enemy. The orange haired youth, that had become the bane of his existence. A veritable thorn in his behind.

Renji's senses slowly returned to him. As they did, he could make out the boy a few metres away. To his side, he saw what looked to be a Squad Four member – healing him.

"Please hold still Lieutenant. Your injuries in the fight were...severe."

'No kidding.'

He looked himself over (as best he could). His left arm (the one that was struck), was heavily bandaged. Even so, blood still seeped through.

'Damn lucky my arm is still attached.'

A few moments passed, as Renji let himself be healed by the kaidō (healing kidō).

"Boy...why...?" He tried to ask, but the pain made him forget his words – as he winced.

"I heard you apologise to Rukia."

'Apologise? Oh...'

Renji remembered the last moments of the fight, where he begged Rukia for forgiveness. His oldest and dearest friend. The one he never should've let go of.

Renji snickered, "...and that was enough for you to resuscitate me? We're enemies, you fool..."

"Maybe? But I'm not in the mood to kill. Irrespective of the current situation."

For Ichigo, he knew the situation had changed. With one of their own dead, this Soul Society would be out for blood. Even if he knew the one his mom killed, likely deserved it.

Renji tried to chuckle, but caught himself as the pain pierced him.

"Besides-" Ichigo continued, "I want to know about Rukia's situation. And why this stupid Soul Society wants to kill her!"

"..."

'Why they want to kill her, eh?'

'My brain says because she's a traitor...but my heart says bulls#*!- to it all.'

The defeated Lieutenant sighed, "It's because of the law. She broke it, and thus has to pay for her crimes."

"That's bulls#*!- and you know it Renji!" Ichigo roared in defiance.

"Of course I know that! But what else was I supposed to do? I could only bring her back, and hope my position as a Lieutenant – and the authority that gives me – along with her otherwise clean record, would've granted leniency!" However, Renji's own outburst made him cough up blood, causing his caregiver (Hanatarō) to chastise him for overdoing it.

After a short coughing fit, with his wounds reopening, and blood seeping through the bandages, he decided to ask Ichigo for a favour.

"Please Ichigo...save my friend...save Rukia!"

Ichigo looked at his defeated foe, this Lieutenant who caused him so much trouble – and felt both pity and a sense of kinship with the red-head.

"That was already a given, but...thanks for asking anyway." Ichigo nodded to his fallen foe (now ally?) before walking off. Ganju looked at this fallen combatant and grunted in acknowledgement. He knew the Lieutenant threw away his pride, for the sake of his friend. That takes guts.

"But wait...what about th-!?"

"Come along Hanatarō, we can't sit around here for too long. Other reapers will swarm here soon enough. They can deal with Renji." Ichigo stated, without looking back. His eyes burned with determination to save his friend.

This kid...well what do I expect from an unruly brat like him?

An ominous figure loomed above the terraces of the staircase, leading to the Repentance Cell.

"Kenny?"

"What is it Yachiru?"

"Do you think this Ichigo will even be a challenge for you?"

Kenpachi's face wide grin never faltered.

"I have no doubt."

The trio of Ichigo, Ganju and Hanatarō scaled the staircase. Hanatarō was a little winded, but kept pace as best he could.

These are a lot of stairs. Wouldn't be surprised if this is part of some weird ritual they have. A "slow trek" to the criminals, or somethin' stupid like that.

Then Ichigo felt the shift in the air. It was...subtle at first, then grew heavier with each step.

So this must be him...

The orange haired youth looked back to his cousin and their companion. Ganju had a small bead of sweat, running down his face. His face was stone set, resolute as if to say 'I'm with you Ichigo.'

Their short companion continued at his pace, and seemed unaware of what they were rushing towards.

Ichigo continued looking forward, as the thick and heavy spiritual force of their opponent, blanketed the environment.

At a certain Shopkeepers store, said shopkeeper, clanked his cane on the wooden floors of his store. Smiling, under the shadowed rim of his trademark hat.

Several minutes passed before Ichigo and co, finally scaled the staircase and arrived at the open courtyard...

Hanatarō could now feel the spiritual force of Kenpachi. He'd felt the presence of the strongest Soul Reaper, only once before – when he was ferrying messages between different Squad barracks. It was only in passing, and yet it felt like the Captain had eviscerated his very being. That was what the mere presence, of Kenpachi Zaraki could do to someone like him. And the giant of a man wasn't even in talking distance to Hanatarō.

N-N...No...!

Now they were out of their league. Sure, Ichigo defeated Lieutenant Abarai soundly, but no Lieutenant (and some Captains), couldn't hope to measure up against Kenpachi Zaraki.

Hanatarō froze on the spot, before collapsing to his hands and knees. Trembling.

"Sh*! Hanatarō's down Ichigo!"

Ganju ran back to their companion. He heard the little guy mumbling something under his breath

"W-W-W-We're...d-d-d-doomed."

"Eugh? We're not doomed little guy, but whoever this spiritual pressure belongs to, will be a real challenge." The Shiba reassured the shaking Hanatarō.

Ichigo stopped his running.

"Ganju..."

His older cousin looked at him in surprise.

"Get Hanatarō out of here, and head straight for the Repentance Cell!"

"Wagh? But whoever this is, you'd need backup!? I'm your senior here ya know!"

Ichigo smiled.

"Yeah, you are elder cousin, but I'll have to take care of Kenpachi myself."

'Damn it, so this is Kenpachi! No wonder he wants us to make a move.'

Ganju quickly swept up the trembling Hanatarō, "you better make it out of this, otherwise they'd rip us both a new one!" Then flash stepped towards the exit, heading over to the Repentance Cell.

"I wasn't going to attack the small fry, but good to see you wanted this battle to just be us!"

Ichigo refocused his senses, till he spotted a dark silhouette above the towering walls of the court yard. From that distance, all his eyes could see was a large shadow of a man, sitting on the terraced walls.

So that's him.

As if responding to his internalised comment, Kenpachi leaped off the wall (with surprising grace for such a towering figure), and made his way to his fated opponent.

Ichigo and Kenpachi Zaraki stood face to face with each other. Zaraki was itching for the fight to start. He took his measure of the boy, surprised such a kid could best his Third Seat.

"So you're the one who beat Ikkaku?"

"Yeah?"

"Excellent, I don't normally judge based on looks, but still I'm surprised a kid could best one of my squad's best!"

Unexpectedly, a pink haired girl (?) leaped onto the orange haired hybrid. Landing gracefully on his right shoulder.

"Hello there!" She cheerfully nodded to him.

On instinct, Ichigo tried to shake her, but she jumped off before any of his momentum could impede her. Landing shakily back onto Kenpachi's left shoulder.

"Who are you? I couldn't even sense you, even when you landed on me!?"

This feeling...almost like...

Yachiru whimsically responded, oblivious to how Ichigo 's initial reaction

"Me? I'm Lieutenant Yachiru Kusajishi, Kenny's right-hand ga- er left shoulder gal!"

The young girl laughed, while her adopted father (and Captain) groaned.

It can't be because of Kenpachi's spiritual pressure, what even is she?

The young hybrid shook his head of intrusive thoughts, refocusing on the task at hand. Defeating this guy and then going off to rescue Rukia!

"It seems the boy has finally reached Zaraki, Captain Aizen."

"Excellent...now let us move on to the next phase."

Sōsuke Aizen smiled.

This is going to be a tough one Zangetsu. Lend me your strength!

'We shall Ichigo!'

'Of course King!'

That was...?

Taking a breath, Ichigo steadied himself. He closed his eyes and focused on his spiritual centre.

Swirling

Swirling

Deep within

"What's wrong kid? Scared?"

"No."

Ichigo looked at Kenpachi and then his eyes started to glow. Then pure spiritual power burst forth from the youth. A column of spirit energy reaching for the sky. The area around him shook from the reverberation. The cobblestone beneath, slowly peeling from the force.

Zaraki's eyes widened in shock. Realising that this boy will be much more of a challenge then he thought. His own unsuppressed spiritual pressure, was quaking from the force on display by this...kid.

"Yachiru, get away from here."

"Sure thing Kenny!" Saluting her senior, she hopped away gleefully. A good distance from this battle zone.

"What's wrong Kenpachi Zaraki? Intimidated?"

"No...I'm excited. Besides maybe a few Captains, your spiritual force is exceptional. Ikkaku really undersold you."

"Unsurprising. I held back against him, but not you. There's no point with someone like you."

Then before Kenpachi could give a verbal reply, Ichigo appeared right in front of Kenpachi, and cut him across the chest. Thanks to the Captain's spiritual pressure (and thus spiritual defence), it was a fairly light cut, but still...

Feeling his instincts kick in, Kenpachi countered with a thrust, that would've skewered anyone else. However, all it did was cut a few strands of orange from his head, as Ichigo weaved around the blow – readying a spinning cross-cut.

Kenpachi, realised what he was going for, so brought his blade up to block. The collision creating a shock wave, radiating off the clash.

The two exchanged looks as both struggled to push back the other's blade.

"Excellent boy, you have incredible reflexes. Clearly you're more than some upstart. You've been well trained."

The struggling would've continued longer, until Ichigo had had enough, and decided to unleash a rather new variation of his staple zanpakutō technique.

"Piercing..."

'What is he?' Then Kenpachi saw the glow from the edge of the boys sword. And knew the kid was going to launch a close range attack. A VERY close range attack.

"Exploder!"

Kenpachi moved to dodge the energy blast, as Ichigo's blade edge exploded in light. The immediate vicinity (a large radius around Ichigo), was detonated – like a well aimed bomb.

Though Kenpachi wasn't the fastest guy (he still hadn't learned Shunpō), his reflexes and natural speed were enough to get by against speedy opponents. However that was the first time he'd ever had to outrun a point-blank explosion.

'I like this kid already.'

At the centre of a crater, several meters away from him. Ichigo stood menacingly.

"Nice dodge Kenpachi. But you'll need to do better."

Kenpachi's already haphazard clothing (rough shihakudhō, with his Captain's hāori), was lightly singed by the parts of the blast he couldn't quite miss. As well as a few burn marks.

"Oh...I will boy. Guess I won't need ANY more restraints with you!"

Reaching for his eye patch, that concealed his right eye, he ripped the covering off. And instantly his spiritual pressure skyrocketed. The force of which, blew apart surrounding infrastructure.

'So this must be his true power...incredible.'

The orange haired youth, looked on as his opponents own (golden) aura exploded. He wasn't intimidated, but he was now aware of how strong this Kenpachi was.

'Damn...I don't want to use bankai here. If I do before at least facing Byakuya...I'm at a disadvantage due to that Aizen guy monitoring us-'

Oh yes, he remembered that little tidbit of info that his mom and Yoruichi dropped on the group (prior to their rescue mission). That there was a specific enemy of Kisuke's still residing in the Seireitei, and he could be monitoring each of them. Kisuke apparently contacted Yoruichi to give them a heads up, saying something like 'plans have changed'. He knew Hat and Clogs was a sneaky b%&$(#!, but didn't realise he'd intentionally put them in the path of a psycho.

'-Nor do I really want to use my Quincy skills...but, since he knows I am part Quincy...'

Kenpachi on the other hand, revelled in the release of his full power. He then spotted the uncertainty, in the boys eyes.

"Why do you hesitate boy. You're strong...stronger than many whom I have fought. Possibly the strongest I've fought against! There's no need for useless things like hesitation..." The snarl at the end, emphasized Kenpachi's bloodlust and thrill for the fight.

'He's right. I have no time to hesitate. If I don't go full force, he'll kill me. I won't use bankai, but I can use...'

Pulsing

Pulsing

Pulsing

Ichigo felt it! Within his core, the Quincy power deep within. Concentrating on the technique he wanted to use, he visualised what his mother said:

"While this technique is second nature to Echt Quincy, Gemischt can also learn this. I don't expect you or Uryū to get this right away, but..."

'Visualise the reishi pumping through your body!'

Echoing his mother's lesson, Ichigo visualised (eyes closed) the process of pumping reishi directly into his veins. There were two routes to go: the defensive route (which pumped reishi one way) and the offensive route (which pumped reishi another way). He concentrated hard, and his own spiritual pressure began to increase.

"Excellent...even now your spiritual force increases!" Kenpachi complimented his opponent. His own golden aura swathing him in an eery glow.

'C'mon...I need to focus... more... mooooorrrreeee!'

'I will assist you...Ichigo!'

Master?

Ichigo opened his eyes and then realised something felt different. He looked himself over, and saw the signature blue lines indicative of the Quincy's Offensive Technique: Blut Arterie.

'This is?'

'Yes...this is your Blut Arterie technique, but it will only last so long. You must defeat this man, before it does.'

[I will, thank you Zangetsu]

Ichigo rushed forward, as his opponent cackled in delight.

"Eugh...where are we?"

"I don't know...Orihime."

All Orihime and Chad could remember was being paralysed and beaten by their Soul Reaper opponents. They don't remember anything after. The two youths looked around their immediate surroundings. It looked like some sort of cave or...

"Ah! It's good to see you two are awake. I was getting a little worried."

"Yorucihi!?"

"Yorucihi!?"

End of Chapter Notes:

Hey there everyone. So, I bet many of you were expecting Ichigo here to just go bankai right? Nope. Instead (as I've been hinting at for a few chapters), Ichigo has tapped further into his mixed heritage, AND, even has a few new tricks taught to him by both Zangetsu's (like the Piercing Exploder). Does not going bankai make this battle harder? Maybe. Maybe not. Gotta realise that Kenpachi here is a weird one. He changes his level of power to suit his opponents, so it might not do well for Ichigo to go ham right off the bat. Instead, it's better for him to wear Kenpachi down, then finish in a flurry of power.

Also: For some reason I don't actually get reviews sent to me now (which is weird), so I can just give a thank you here. RG-Guest is my most prolific Guest Reviewer, and has also given some great feedback on the series. Thanks again.