Chapter 60: Reaching Unlimited Heights

Again?! I lost consciousness again. How many times was that?

Again and again, I lose consciousness during the fight, only to find myself back in it.

Feels nostalgic. Fights are fun, but I don't lose myself in them or lose consciousness. It's only happened to me once before.

That day I fought you.

Captain! I couldn't do it. No matter how much I looked...

...I couldn't find anybody in the Rukon District strong enough to satisfy you!

You realized my true intentions.

Of course! Your mission of "eradicating the vandals in the outskirts of the Rukon District to preserve the peace in the Seireitei."

You never would've proposed such an idea if that wasn't your reason!

Slaying these hoodlums will amount to nothing. The size of this pile of bodies is the size of your dissatisfaction!

That pile... How long has it been there?

Huh?! Didn't you slay these men?!

Hm?

We were bored.

With the sword. With fighting. Because of that, we wandered, seeking an enemy that would please our swords.

That is why our swords brought us two together.

Bliss.

I never expected it. That I would find unparalleled pleasure crossing swords with such a little child.

I never expected this child would handcuff himself through a fight with me.

(I connected!)

(A strike I was reacting to earlier, I'm now responding to with reflex.)

(Every time I come back from my unconsciousness, I feel like I'm reborn.)

Kenpachi Zaraki. You probably have not realized...

...that you are unconsciously restraining your powers while in battle.

That's why you just barely lost to Ichigo Kurosaki.

That's why you just barely beat Nnoitora Gilga.

"They were strong." Of course, it appeared that way from the outside, but I knew that wasn't the case.

It was all because you were restraining your powers to the very limit.

In that battle, we both felt pleasure we had never felt before.

The only difference was, only you learned the pleasure of fighting on the edge.

You must have been ecstatic. Everywhere you looked, all you saw were the weak. No enemy who could even test your skills.

I was the first enemy you encountered who rivaled your strength.

I was the first person you ever met who you could call an enemy. You thought, if I kill this person, I will never be able to enjoy a battle ever again.

You unconsciously suppressed and sealed your powers in a deep, dark place, as if to match mine.

I was disappointed with my own weakness that drove you to suppress your powers.

But one day I realized that every time you brushed death, fighting against a powerful enemy...

...you began removing the fetters you put on yourself. That you were returning to who you once were.

I am strong. Stronger than anybody except you.

That is precisely why I will try to kill you. A hundred times. A thousand times if I have to.

That is precisely why I will heal you, again and again.

Surpass me, and reach unlimited heights.

Go on.