Kenpachi stood in front of his opponent, Gremmy Thoumeaux, victorious. Though the battle didn't come without its consequences. Kenpachi was bloodied from head to toe. He was barely standing. Gremmy spoke to Kenpachi in his last moments.

Gremmy: Was I killed by my own imagination? No, that's not it. My imagination was correct. Too correct, in fact. I was able to correctly imagine all of your powers. But the one thing I couldn't imagine correctly was that only your body can withstand your powers. It wasn't my power of imagination that lost to you. It was this body of mine. No, that is an excuse, isn't it? Aw...damn it... I wanted to win so badly...!

Gremmy's body started to fade away, leaving only a brain.

Kenpachi: What the hell...is that?

Gremmy: I told you. I would kill you without using a single finger. Even this body of mine is all a product of my imagination. Exactly like I said, I didn't use a single finger against you. Although I was the one who died. I was beginning to think fighting the other Special Threats would've been fun. Ah... Seems like my imagination is at its limit... It's going to be sad... imagining what lies ahead, a world where I can no longer imagine anything.

Gremmy completely vanished as Kenpachi was left by himself. The arena they were fighting on crumbled to nothing in response to Gremmy's death.

Kenpachi: The stage you created, the puddle of blood... all gone without a trace.

Kenpachi then started to cough up blood.

Kenpachi: My innards must have been damaged somewhere along the way... And I can barely hear because of the explosion... This sucks. Yachiru! Where are you, Yachiru?! It's over! Answer me!

Kenpachi looked all over for his lieutenant, however, as that was happening, Kenpachi's squad members came over to congratulate him on his victory.

"Captain! You won, Captain!"

Kenpachi: Hey, have you guys seen Yachiru anywhere?

"Huh? No... we haven't."

"Did Lieutenant Kusajishi wander off somewhere again?"

Kenpachi: Find her.

"Huh? But we can't sense her Spiritual Pressure."

"She's not around here—"

Kenpachi: Just find her!

"Y-Yes, sir!"

"Let's go! Spread out and find her!"

As the members of Squad 11 were about to split up to find Yachiru, a few members were unexpectedly struck by lightning.

"Oh, how lucky~! It's so easy to take out these morons when they're all gathered in one place!"



Thankfully some of the members weren't caught in the attack.

"An ambush?!"

"That was dirty! You damn brat!"

Liltotto: We're going up against Kenpachi Zaraki. I say it's within reason.

Giselle: So much for taking them all out at once, eh? They're still coming out in droves! What a useless ability!

Candice was clearly annoyed at Giselle's comment.

Candice: What does it matter if they keep coming out?! I'll just keep frying em' until they're-

Candice was cut off as Kenpachi, despite his poor condition, tried to ambush Candice, but the Bambies simply attacked him as a group. Taking advantage of his poor physical condition, the Bambies easily defeated Kenpachi.

Candice: That was close! How is he able to move like that after fighting Gremmy? The guy's a monster!

While Candice handled Kenpachi, the other Bambies were taking their time taking out Squad 11. Kenpachi struggled to his feet once more.

Kenpachi: You bastards...

Candice: He can still get up? Hurry up and die already!

Candice threw another thunderbolt at Kenpachi, keeping him down.

Giselle: Nice! You can tell he's barely alive.

Liltotto: So, who's gonna finish him off?

Meninas: I think we should decide fairly by rock-paper.

Candice: And just how do you win that game?

Meninas: Rock wins.

Candice: Then all of us will do rock! Are you stupid?!

As the 4 girls argued who would finish off Kenpachi, they felt a massive Spiritual Pressure immediately appear.



In a blink of an eye, Kenpachi's body disappeared from in front of the Bambi's.

Candice: What the hell?! Where did he-

"Siegfried. Isane's close by. Can you bring her here? Panzer, this must've been where they were healing the injured so I need you to clear the rubble and make space again."

(Y/N) arrived with Siegfried and Panzer by his side. (Y/N) was also able to move Kenpachi's body away from the four girls.

(Y/N): I'll deal with you four later.

(Y/N) then began to heal Kenpachi to keep him from dying.

Kenpachi: (L/N)? The hell are you doing?

(Y/N): What does it look like? I'm healing you.

Kenpachi: Don't worry about me... The enemy isn't goin' to... stand still.

(Y/N): I'll make sure they do.

Meanwhile, the Bambies looked at (Y/N) in shock.

Candice: H-hey! Who does this guy think he is?!

Liltotto: That's (Y/N) (L/N).

Candice: That's the guy Gigi can't shut up about?

Giselle: You guys can decide among yourselves who'll kill Zaraki. I call dibs on killing (Y/N).

Meninas: It seems he's dead set on fighting all four of us. We don't have the luxury to sit back and let you fight him by yourself.

Meanwhile Siegfried came back with Isane in hand.

(Y/N): Right on time. Isane, are you alright?

Isane: Y-yes, don't worry.

(Y/N): Good. Can I leave Kenpachi in your care? I can't seem to sense Captain Unohana, but you're just as good as she is so I feel safe leaving him to you.

(Y/N) saw the expression on Isane's face change to one of sadness once Unohana's name was brought up.

(Y/N): H-hey, what's the matter...

Isane: (Y/N)... Captain Unohana isn't here.

(Y/N): Not here? Then... where is she...?

Isane: I mean she's no longer with us... Captain Unohana is dead...

(Y/N) froze at the sudden news.

(Y/N): You're... You're kidding right?

Isane: It's the truth...

(Y/N): Who...

Isane: Huh? (Y/N): Which one of them did it? Which Quincy killed her?

Kenpachi: It wasn't a quincy...It was me...

(Y/N): What?

Isane: In order for Zaraki to be at his full strength for this invasion, Captain Unohana was put in charge of Captain Zaraki's training... Captain Unohana herself felt like she was the sole one capable of getting Captain Zaraki ready. And as both held the title of Kenpachi, it was only possible that one of them were allowed to live.

(Y/N) wanted to deny it. Unohana was one of the strongest people he knew. She was one of the nicest people he knew. She didn't deserve this.

Kenpachi, with the last of his strength, grabbed Unohana's zanpakuto that had attached to the sash of his Shihakusho and gave it to (Y/N).

Kenpachi: She told me... to give this to you... as her last request.

(Y/N) shakily grabbed onto the zanpakuto and immediately had an epiphany.

~~~~

As (Y/N) and Renji followed Oetsu, (Y/N) felt a strange feeling in his stomach and stopped in his tracks. He wasn't sure how to describe it, but it was a feeling he was familiar with. It usually happened when he gained a new member of his undead army. (Y/N) wasn't sure why he was feeling it now. He wasn't in combat.

Renji: Is everything alright? Is it about Ichigo? Don't worry about him, he'll catch up.

(Y/N): R-right...

(Y/N): *thinking* It must've been my imagination...

~~~~

Reality was starting to set in for (Y/N).

(Y/N): She's... She's dead...

She shouldn't be dead, but she was. All because they had to prepare for war. Had the Quincies didn't show up, she would still be alive.

...

(Flashback)

(Y/N): You want me to join Squad 4?

Unohana: It was merely a suggestion. I'm not forcing you to join. Besides, you still have a lot more years before you have to worry about such a thing.

(Y/N) was helping Unohana in the Squad 4 barracks. Despite no major threats, they're still hollow attacks that call Shinigamis to duty. There's no helping the occasional injury. And so (Y/N) was assisting Unohana and the other members of Squad 4 in such a task.

(Y/N): Well, you're the second person to ask me to join their Squad. It makes me feel like I should give it a little thought.

Unohana: I guess when my competition is Captain Soi-Fon then I should've expected that was the case.

(Y/N): H-hey, it's not like I agreed to join Squad 2. It's just a suggestion that was currently up in the air. Besides, when I do officially join the Soul Society, what will happen to the whole "ambasador" thing? Will that become a new position completely unrelated to the Court Guard Squad like the Kido Corps or will there be a whole new Squad dedicated to that purpose?

Unohana: There's a possibility that there won't be a need for it at all if things are going as well as it is now. I don't think there could be anyone else who could do what you and Miss Zulema have done with this position.

(Y/N): That's not true. I'm sure there's people who are way better at politics and being professional than I am. I'm not fit for that kind of stuff.

Unohana: Many of us here in the Seireitei are thankful for the amount of hard work you've done. You have a gift that not many possess. One to unite people from all walks of life.

(Y/N): You give me too much credit. I'm not sure if I can keep up with all the responsibilities that I put on myself. Sometimes I can feel the exhaustion of trying to balance life in every single realm and it'll only get worse as I get older. Sometimes I want to blame my inability to refuse helping others for not being able to spend adequate time with people I care about the most. But at the same time, that inability led me to them in the first place.

Unohana: Maybe it is true that you took on too much more than you can handle, but that doesn't mean you aren't good at what you do. If you're feeling overwhelmed, take a break. Ask for help. It may be a simple piece of advice but sometimes people forget to take those steps when they're minds are occupied.

(Y/N) stood in silence as he pondered on Unohana's words.

Unohana: If you need help, then don't be afraid to ask me, okay?

(Y/N): Right. Thanks.

(Y/N) always believed that Unohana was one of the easiest Shinigamis he could talk to. She was also extremely kind and considerate. If (Y/N) was being honest, Unohana reminded him a lot of his own mother. Perhaps that's why (Y/N) never had an issue talking to her.

(Flashback End)

https://youtu.be/gqKHobqo1_g

(Y/N) got on his feet as his mind raced with many different thoughts and emotions. From disbelief to sadness to finally anger. (Y/N)'s fist was clenched so tight that his hand started to bleed.

(Y/N): I was naive to believe that I could force them to surrender... I was stupid enough to bring morality into war. From here on, I don't care anymore... Whether they live or die.

(Y/N)'s spiritual pressure felt eerie. It felt unnatural. Any normal shinigami that was present felt themselves fall to their knees but the sheer power (Y/N) emitted.

(Y/N): I wanted to prove that the Shinigami were different now. But that doesn't matter to the Quincies. Since they started this war, they should be prepared to die in it.

(Y/N) reached for his zanpakuto.

(Y/N): So I'll use everything I have to crush them. There can't be a war if there's no enemies left... right?

(Y/N)'s zanpakuto started to change forms into a scythe. The next few words that came out of (Y/N)'s mouth were not influenced by Thanatos. What was said came from so deep within (Y/N)'s gut that it nearly made all the things (Y/N) fought for in the past feel like a lie.



(Y/N): I̶̺̣͎̮̅̿̔'̴̛̘̈́̂L̸͈͚̀̿̾͛L̵̘̰̣͈̿͠ ̵̮͌́Ǩ̷̮Í̷̧͉͝͝͝L̶͍̮̀͛͒̐L̶͚̔̈́̈́͝ ̵̛͎̭̟͕͒̀T̶̩͠H̵̼̣̘̲̅E̸͓̗̹͆̏M̷̝̂́͝ͅ!̵͚̝͌̃

To be continued.