"Is it… over?"
Holding Great Fire Extinguishes the Fan, Bai Chen stared toward the collapsed trench in the distance—at Kenpachi Zaraki's blood-soaked, barely-moving figure.
He shook his head with a hint of regret.
"To be fair… if he hadn't run into me, Zaraki Kenpachi wouldn't have ended up this miserable."
The fight had been one-sided not because Kenpachi was weak—
but because his own Zanpakutō was simply hard-countered.
So long as Kenpachi kept relying on raw swings and sword pressure…
all the damage would keep bouncing back to him.
"Besides…"
"If this is all he's got, there's no point in testing Uchiha Flame Release."
Bai Chen's eyes flickered.
He'd originally planned to squeeze this opportunity dry—use Kenpachi's absurd "won't-die" physique as a testbed for the newly acquired Uchiha fire techniques.
But now?
He wasn't interested.
More importantly—
he was genuinely worried he might burn Kenpachi to death.
And if that happened…
one of the future "five war potentials" who would make Yhwach wary…
would die before the Thousand-Year Blood War even began.
"You're letting them go?"
Chōjirō Sasakibe frowned.
Even if Kenpachi couldn't keep fighting, the man had been rude, violent, and openly contemptuous toward Shinigami.
Sasakibe's instinct was simple:
finish him.
Bai Chen's tone stayed calm—almost like he'd read the thought right off Sasakibe's face.
"Sasakibe Vice-Captain…"
"Punishment is fine. But killing? Let's not."
"In this entire fight, Kenpachi only focused on me."
"He hasn't harmed anyone else."
Sasakibe froze.
…He realized Bai Chen was right.
From start to finish, the only person getting injured…
was Kenpachi.
If they executed him now, it would look petty—like they were afraid of letting him live.
Bai Chen continued, casually dropping a bomb in front of everyone.
"And you've noticed it too, haven't you?"
"Kenpachi's strength is absolutely captain-class."
"A talent like this…"
"Isn't he far better than the current Kenpachi of the Eleventh Division?"
That single line set the entire purification force on fire.
Whispers exploded.
"He just—said that out loud?!"
"Publicly insulting a sitting captain…?!"
Cold sweat appeared on countless faces.
Everyone knew Kiganjō Kenpachi wasn't popular.
But saying it openly—in front of hundreds of Shinigami—was another matter entirely.
And in that instant, an even more dangerous thought spread through the crowd:
If Bai Chen challenged…
would the Eleventh Division's next Kenpachi be—
him?
Then the rubble answered
Before anyone could dwell on it—
BOOOOM—!!
A pillar of spiritual pressure detonated straight out of the trench.
The sudden surge yanked every gaze back like a hook.
"What the hell?!"
"That pressure—way stronger than before!"
"And the color—gold… turned dark red!"
"What's happening down there?!"
A massive crimson-black column ripped through the clouds.
The sheer aura alone was suffocating.
Shinigami who had already retreated instinctively fell back again, doubling their distance before they could breathe properly.
In the end, only the truly strong remained near the ring:
Yachiru, Ikkaku, Yumichika…
Bai Chen…
and behind him, Unohana's vice-captain Isane and Sasakibe.
Even they were struggling just standing there.
The longer they stayed, the harder it became to breathe.
Isane's face turned pale.
"Spiritual pressure mutation…?"
"That can't happen."
"Unless…"
Her voice tightened.
"Unless his Zanpakutō just awakened."
Bai Chen's eyes narrowed.
He'd been ready to end this cleanly.
But now…
the situation flipped again.
"…Did my words trigger it?"
He snorted softly, half-amused.
"So this is what it feels like to wield 'mouth-arts.'"
Then his expression sharpened.
"Still… first-time awakening."
"Kenpachi can't control it yet."
The pillar stopped expanding—
and began compressing.
All that dark-red power collapsed inward, squeezing the air until the entire area felt like a sealed furnace.
The atmosphere turned wrong.
Not "battlefield" wrong.
More like—
hell.
A demon crawls out
From the dust, Kenpachi's voice punched through—violent and hoarse.
"Oi… Bai Chen!!"
"Don't think I'm going down that easily!!"
"Our fight…"
"has only just started!!"
The crimson column vanished completely—
as if it had been swallowed into his body.
Kenpachi's silhouette emerged in the smoke.
And then…
everyone saw it.
A Zanpakutō so massive it looked unreal—
a brutal, cleaver-like blade with an edge shaped like an axe.
Kenpachi had to shoulder-carry it like a monster hauling a guillotine.
"…What the—"
"I've never seen a Zanpakutō that big!"
"Is that a Bankai?!"
Even Bai Chen's eyes widened.
Ikkaku looked like his soul left his body.
"Boss's sword…"
"It awakened on its own?!"
Yumichika's eyes shimmered.
"…We actually lived."
"That blade—one look and you can tell it's pure violence."
"He might really be able to beat Bai Chen now!"
Yachiru clapped happily on Ikkaku's shoulder.
"I told you!"
"Ken-chan is the manliest man in the world!"
"He'll use that huge black choppy-sword…"
"and cut down all the Shinigami—Shiro-chan included!"
Bai Chen finally stops playing
For the first time since Great Fire Extinguishes the Fan awakened…
Bai Chen's expression stopped being casual.
He raised the fan and fed spiritual pressure into it.
"Sealing barrier."
He didn't hesitate.
If Kenpachi lost control, hundreds would die.
Bai Chen drove scorching flames into the ground—
and invoked the Uchiha-style formation.
"Uchiha Flame Formation!"
A massive wall of fire erupted and spread outward—
forming a gigantic barrier that surrounded the battlefield.
A formation that could attack and defend—
and, most importantly, contain.
Above Zaraki District…
the sky turned red once more.
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