NOTAKING
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Ble@ch: Chapter 62
🕑 Added 2025-05-07 07:26:11 +0000 UTCIchigo wiped the blood from his mouth with the back of his hand, feeling his heartbeat thundering in his ears.
Kenpachi stood opposite him, the ground between them a shattered wasteland of broken stone and debris. Blood leaked freely from both of them, but neither looked ready to stop. Neither wanted to stop.
'Zangetsu,' Ichigo thought, his grip tightening around the hilt of his blade. 'No more holding back. We fight together.'
"As it should be," Zangetsu’s voice replied, calm and steady inside his mind. "Let your power flow without restraint. I will guide your blade."
Ichigo’s body shifted — not a visible transformation, but a deeper, visceral change in the air around him. His reiatsu sharpened like a thousand drawn blades, the heavy spiritual pressure suddenly coiling into a tight, controlled spear aimed squarely at Kenpachi.
Kenpachi’s grin widened. He could feel it too — the real fight was about to begin.
Ichigo blurred forward.
BOOM!
The stone beneath his feet exploded from the force of his step. He reached Kenpachi in less than a heartbeat, Zangetsu already mid-swing, a perfect horizontal cut aimed at Kenpachi’s ribs.
Kenpachi barely managed to block it, the impact shoving him back with a screeching scrape of his sandals against the cracked ground.
Before Kenpachi could recover, Ichigo pressed in — another slash, a vertical one this time, raining down from above with crushing speed. Kenpachi brought up his sword to block again, but Ichigo twisted midair, feinting the strike and instead swinging low toward Kenpachi's knee.
Schrrrak!
The blade grazed flesh this time, slicing deep into Kenpachi’s thigh. Blood gushed out in a wild arc.
Kenpachi laughed — genuine, guttural laughter even through the pain — as he swung a brutal counter, a wild horizontal sweep that would have cleaved Ichigo in two.
But Ichigo was faster now.
With Zangetsu guiding him, he ducked under the swing with a fluid slide, dragging his sword across Kenpachi's exposed side in a brutal slash that ripped through muscle and bone alike.
SLASH!
Kenpachi staggered, blood pouring down his side, staining the broken ground red.
"You... finally getting serious, huh?!" Kenpachi roared, stumbling but still grinning like a beast.
Ichigo didn’t respond. His eyes were cold, focused, razor-sharp.
Shunpo.
Ichigo vanished and reappeared behind Kenpachi, blade flashing again.
Kenpachi spun, their swords clashing so violently that a sonic boom tore through the area, blowing apart what little remained of the courtyard walls. Massive chunks of stone were hurled into the air like paper.
Ichigo didn't let up. He attacked relentlessly, blow after blow raining down — precise, feral, calculated.
Zangetsu’s voice flowed through him, silent and steady:
"Cut.
Strike.
Move.
Strike again."
Every movement was seamless — a blade dance of pure instinct and skill.
Kenpachi tried to match him, his monstrous strength slamming into Ichigo’s blows with enough force to fracture the air itself, but Ichigo's speed and precision now kept him a half-step ahead every time.
Crack!
Boom!
Schkkk!
Their blades collided again and again, tearing deep craters into the ground, leveling buildings that had stood for centuries, splitting the earth beneath them.
Finally, Ichigo found his opening.
A swift feint to the left — Kenpachi bit on it — and Ichigo slammed his foot into Kenpachi’s injured leg, forcing him down to one knee.
In the same motion, Ichigo drove Zangetsu straight down — a brutal, two-handed strike aimed squarely at Kenpachi’s chest.
THWACK!
Kenpachi caught the blade barely with his own, his feet digging trenches into the ground from the force, blood pouring from his mouth.
But he couldn’t stop it completely. The blade pushed through — not fatally, but deep enough to carve a savage gash across his chest.
Blood exploded out in a violent spray.
Kenpachi laughed even through the pain, gripping Ichigo’s sword with one hand and swinging his own free.
Ichigo anticipated it, spinning out and pulling Zangetsu free in a shower of blood, dancing just beyond the killing blow.
They both stood there for a moment, gasping, bleeding, their bodies battered and bruised, surrounded by the ruins of Seireitei.
Kenpachi’s body swayed slightly, his breathing ragged — but his spirit was still wild, still roaring for more.
Ichigo stood firm, Zangetsu resting easily in his hand, his aura burning like a second sun.
This time, there was no hesitation in him.
This time, he was fighting at full strength — him and Zangetsu, perfectly aligned.
Kenpachi staggered upright, blood trailing from the fresh gash across his chest. Yet despite the wounds, despite the cracked ground under his feet, his grin only grew wider.
"You’re good, Ryoka... real good," Kenpachi rasped, his voice thick with blood and excitement. "Looks like... I gotta get serious too."
Ichigo tensed, feeling the dangerous shift in the air.
Kenpachi reached up slowly and grabbed the patch over his right eye — a patch specifically designed to devour his spiritual pressure.
He tore it off with a single, brutal motion.
BOOM.
The moment the eyepatch came free, Kenpachi's full spiritual energy erupted like a black sun.
The ground splintered violently in a shockwave that hurled debris in all directions, flattening what little remained standing. The air itself seemed to scream under the weight of it — heavy, oppressive, thick with killing intent.
Buildings in the distance cracked apart and collapsed just from the pressure.
Ichigo threw up an arm to shield his face, his body straining under the raw, feral force pouring off Kenpachi.
‘Tch... so this is the real Kenpachi...’ Ichigo thought, his pulse pounding like war drums.
‘Zangetsu, we can't hold anything back anymore.’
"Then let us cut through him. Together," Zangetsu whispered firmly.
Kenpachi didn’t give him a moment longer.
With a roar that shook the heavens, he charged.
Ichigo barely managed to parry the incoming blow — a savage downward slash that carved a hundred-foot trench into the ground behind him. The sheer impact sent him flying, crashing through two broken towers before he managed to right himself mid-air.
CRASH!
Stone and dust exploded outward as Ichigo hit the ground hard, leaving a crater where he landed.
But he didn’t stay down.
Ichigo vanished in a blur of speed, appearing just behind Kenpachi, Zangetsu already mid-swing — a clean, precise cut aiming for the captain's neck.
Kenpachi twisted with brutal grace, his own blade intercepting Ichigo's in a thunderous clash that flattened everything around them in a radius.
They exchanged blows faster than the eye could follow — a furious whirlwind of steel and blood.
Ichigo slashed low — Kenpachi blocked and countered with a brutal overhead smash.
Ichigo spun away, barely dodging, his footfalls shattering the ground with every step.
Kenpachi followed like a hurricane, his blade whistling through the air, each missed stroke cleaving massive gouges into the earth.
One of Kenpachi’s swings caught the side of a stone tower — the entire thing crumbled instantly, collapsing with a thunderous roar.
Ichigo darted up the falling debris, leaping from stone to stone like a shadow, positioning himself above Kenpachi.
He dived, Zangetsu slicing downward with a howl.
Kenpachi lifted his sword to block — but Ichigo shifted mid-air, driving a savage kick into Kenpachi’s shoulder first, disrupting his stance — and then brought Zangetsu crashing down into his side.
SCHLUKKKK!
Kenpachi howled, blood spraying from a deep gash across his ribs.
Ichigo hit the ground and spun immediately, another slash following up — Kenpachi caught it just in time, but blood poured freely now from multiple wounds, staining the ground dark red.
Despite the injuries, Kenpachi was laughing, his voice a deep, rumbling sound of pure exhilaration.
"This is it, kid! THIS IS IT!" he roared, his spiritual energy burning so bright it scorched the very air.
Ichigo, panting, blood dripping down his arms and legs, lifted Zangetsu again — his gaze fierce, unyielding.
‘This is the real battle.’
He steadied his breathing, pulling Zangetsu close — feeling the full weight of their bond, their unity.
Without needing words, he and Zangetsu moved as one.
Ichigo’s reiatsu exploded, crackling black and crimson, a counter-pressure that slammed into Kenpachi’s.
The air between them vibrated, the ground splintered anew, and even the sky seemed to darken as the two titans clashed again.
Their swords met in a final, devastating collision — a shockwave so massive that the surrounding landscape was wiped clean, leaving only a wide, empty crater.
TO BE CONTINUED 
