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So, you are saying that Ichigo Kurosaki already lost his Soul Reaper powers as per the report?

I wouldn't say that he has lost them entirely. There are several ways for him to regain them.

I'm sure there's been no report of him getting his powers back yet, correct?

Allow me to get straight to the point. Why did you abduct Orihime Inoue and imprison her in Hueco Mundo?

You must've known that you could awaken the Hogyoku on your own. Or, does that girl possess some other hidden power?

I'm sure you're aware of some of the reasons I had. I even planned to let her go once I had accomplished what I set out to do.

But if you hate meaningless endeavors so much, you should be more direct with your questions, Kenpachi Azashiro.

You didn't ask that question because you're worried about Orihime Inoue, did you?

The person who concerns you the most is the man who inherited the Kenpachi name, is it not?

I won't deny that.

In all honesty, I was confused by the report of the man who had supposedly lost to Ichigo Kurosaki killing an Espada in Hueco Mundo.

Zaraki, huh. Indeed, perhaps the greatest benefit of Orihime Inoue's presence was that it allowed me to isolate Kenpachi Zaraki in Hueco Mundo.

What do you mean by that?

Have you not figured it out yet?

I believed that Ichigo Kurosaki getting into Hueco Mundo of his own volition would speed up the process of getting the Soul Society to send in the captains.

And, just as I had predicted, Zaraki was dispatched immediately, allowing me to isolate him there. As for the other three, that was merely incidental.

Let me be clear. The only two captains whom I judged to be true obstacles were Shigekuni Genryusai Yamamoto and Kenpachi Zaraki.

I decided not to fight with Kenpachi Zaraki, in particular, until I had awakened the power of the Hogyoku and gained an immortal body.

That's why I took the steps to isolate him.

I didn't come here to listen to your absurd drivel.

I know the limits of Kenpachi Zaraki's strength. He lost to Ichigo Kurosaki before the boy had even achieved Bankai. Yet, you defeated the very same Ichigo Kurosaki, even after he had mastered his Bankai.

With that in mind, there should be no reason for you to fear Zaraki.

Keeheehee! What's this? You've sure become talkative, Ken! Are you feeling a bit anxious?

Maybe you're worried that Kenpachi Zaraki might be stronger than you, hmm? Keehahahaha!

Silence.

I was ready at any time.

What are you talking about?

In order to help Ichigo Kurosaki grow into a worthy opponent, I set him up to fight whoever was closest to him in strength at any given point in time.

However, I decided that going from Renji Abarai to Byakuya Kuchiki was too big of a leap, so I pitted Ichigo Kurosaki against Kenpachi Zaraki back then.

You must be aware that I had to resort to some tricks to bring Zaraki and Ichigo together, right?

That just means the level of Kenpachi Zaraki's strength is only so high, though. What are you getting at?

You may be able to see through everything, but you only look at the outcomes superficially.

In some ways, that is a virtue, but it will likely lead to your undoing as well.

Would you like to hear my prediction, Kenpachi Azashiro?

You may be a Kenpachi yourself, but you will end up defeated by that very same name.