Bleach: Brave Souls story · Main story, Part 19: Thousand-Year Blood War VI
2-3 Shackles
Part 19: Thousand-Year Blood War VI. Unohana looks back on her past and reflects on the role she played in Kenpachi's shackles.
1 scenes, 21 lines
1. Before the battle
21 lines
(That landed!)
(I could only react to her attacks before, but now I can counter them. It's almost as if each time I black out, I wake up feeling reborn!)
(Kenpachi Zaraki... You're not even aware of it, are you? You don't realize that, whenever you face a strong opponent in battle, you unconsciously restrain your powers.)
(Think back... Do you know why you lost your battle with Ichigo Kurosaki?)
(Do you know why you nearly lost your battle with Nnoitora Gilga?)
(Was it because they were so strong? That's how it must have seemed to everyone else. But I knew the real reason.)
(It was because, in each instance, you held back. You suppressed your power.)
(During our battle, we both experienced a sense of joy such as we'd never felt.)
(The difference was, you found joy fighting on the edge, instead of fighting to win. You learned that fighting me. And that is my sin.)
(Everyone you'd ever met had been weaker than you. You had run out of enemies to test your sword against.)
(Until you met me... I was the first opponent you'd ever encountered who could rival your power.)
(But only rival it. I was still the weaker of us two. )
(I was the first worthy foe you'd ever met. And perhaps I'd be the last. You thought that if you killed me, you might never again feel the joy of battle.)
(And so, little by little, you unconsciously lowered yourself to my level. You suppressed your power, pushed it down into a deep, dark place and sealed it away.)
(I was shocked by what I'd done. It was my weakness that had driven you to suppress your power.)
(But then, one day I realized something...)
(Every time you flirt with death against a powerful foe, you loosen your shackles and begin to return again to the person you once were.)
(I am strong. Stronger than anyone except you. That is why I will kill you, over and over again. A hundred, a thousand times, if need be.)
(And that is why I will heal you. Over and over again...)
(...until you return at last to what you really are.)
(Then you will surpass me and reach even greater heights than I ever could.)