CH 39: A CHALLENGE
[4th Division]
Currently sitting in his office, Gojo sneezed a little before calming down.
The probation period he had agreed on with Unohana was coming close to an end, and Gojo had to admit that he was becoming more and more jittery about it.
That woman had once shown him her healing skills, and she had what he had always wanted.
The ability to heal oneself.
Even though healing spells weren’t as complicated as reverse curse techniques, he had to admit they were no joke.
In fact, it was so complicated that he was simply unable to copy it with just his eyes.
The same happened back then when he was alive. Even with all his talent, he had only managed to learn reverse curses after years and years of training.
Worse, if not for nearly dying because of Toji Fushiguro, he might have never learned it, and as such, would have been incapable of realizing his full potential.
It was funny how the world worked sometimes.
Although, he was willing to take another knife to the brain to try and learn it.
But this didn’t matter now, soon he would have what he wanted. After this, all he would need would be to create Limitless and he would finally have a way to be more than just a mob character in this world.
If anyone heard him compare himself to a mob character, people would widen their eyes in surprise.
But Gojo didn’t care.
The more he studied this world, the more he understood just how fucking scary it was.
It wasn’t even a question about pure power.
There were so many weird skills that even with Limitless, he wouldn’t be necessarily able to stand at the top again.
Of course, Limitless wasn’t his sole goal. He needed to master Shikai and Bankai.
Over those seven weeks, he had seen many Shinigami in action, some of which were seated officers and he had come to understand something.
Zanpakutos were a cheat.
He had never really underestimated the power a Zanpakuto could give, but because of the random nature of it all, he had never really put attention into it either.
But those missions had allowed him to witness the reality of the situation.
Kido? Hoho? Hakuda?
All those were without a doubt extremely important.
But for seated officers, even at the captain level, if you asked them what was the most important, they would all give you the same answer.
The Zanpakuto.
A Shinigami could only express his greatest power when using his Zanpakuto.
All the other skills were just auxiliary skills to pair with their Zanpakuto.
The reason why the most used road to becoming a Captain was the mastery of Bankai clearly explained the situation.
Still, even though he knew and understood it, he still wasn’t able to communicate with his sword.
He had once asked Unohana if she could understand why, but she had only smiled mysteriously and told him that with her training, he would, without doubt, unlock his Shikai.
This really made him curious about what kind of training it would be, but at the same time, he had a bad hunch telling him that he wouldn’t really enjoy the process.
It was when he was thinking about all of this that he heard hurried footsteps before someone knocked on his door.
“Enter.”
The one who entered was a flustered Isane.
Standing up, he couldn’t help but ask, “What is the matter?”
Even though he had only known her for a short time, Gojo knew that while this woman was surprisingly shy and had some weird complex about her height, she was steadfast and skilled.
So it was rather surprising to see her show such a flustered expression.
“The 11th division is here again.”
Hearing this, Gojo tilted his head.
While those zealous battle junkies were really a pain in the ass, they had calmed down their bullying nowadays after he kicked the ass of some of them and showed his skills during missions.
Why then was she showing such expression?
“This time it’s their 3rd seat. He said that he wanted to challenge you.”
‘Challenge me?’
Gojo narrowed his eyes.
He had to come to understand that the members of the 11th division weren’t really bad people.
A little rough around the edges. Of course, he understood that it wasn’t wise to generalize people like this. Even so, it was the impression they gave him.
Still, even though he didn’t dislike them, he didn’t like the fact that people challenged him willy nilly.
‘Well, if it’s the 3rd seat, he should make for a good fight, right?’
Gojo didn’t like unnecessary fights. He liked goofing around, picking up girls, eating sweets, and simply having a good and happy life.
But, when it came to expressing his dominance...
Gojo didn’t see it, but Isane, who stood next to him, shivered at the smile on his lips.
Taking off his black glasses, he replaced them with his blindfold.
It was time to fight.
----
Ikkaku Madarame and Yumichika stood outside, in front of the door of the hospital and waited.
Different from members of the 11th division, the two of them did not look down on the 4th division.
After all, the mortality rate of the 11th was the highest in the Gotei 13 and if not for the 4th, it would be even higher.
What’s more,
‘We shouldn’t mess with that terrifying woman.’
The captain of the 4th was scary. They didn’t understand why, they didn’t know how, but they could feel it in their very beings. Their instinct, honed in the worst district of the Rukongai screamed at them.
‘Don’t mess with that woman.’
That’s why they decided to not make a racket by entering and simply waited outside.
Thankfully, they didn’t have to wait long.
“Ohoh. Do you feel it?”
“Indeed, it seems like he is indeed strong.”
They felt it even before seeing him, a heavy overpowering pressure falling on their shoulder.
It was then followed by the sound of slow but steady steps until finally, the door opened,
“Heh, so there are two of you guys.”
A joking nonchalant voice, bright silver hair, and eyes hidden behind a large black blindfold.
Aside from being rather tall, he seemed extremely frail.
But Ikkaku immediately understood that anyone who got tricked by his external appearance was in for a world of pain.
‘Hahaha! What a crazy aura!’
“The name is Ikkaku Madarame. Let’s have a good fight!!”
He couldn’t hold himself back.
Faster than he could think, he unsheathed his sword and rushed toward Gojo with a downward slash.
But,
‘He dodged it!?’
“Tch! Did no one tell you it’s rude to fight in front of a hospital? Come on, baldy, follow me if you can.”
After those words, Gojo, who had appeared behind him, once again vanished.
'So fast! and…’
“Bastard!! I am not bald! I am shaved!”
Shouting this at the top of his lungs, he also used Shunpo and began to follow Gojo.
(AN: So yeah, those who read the manga until the end or got spoiled might already guess what kind of training Gojo will receive. Hehe. It will be interesting. Finally, the next chapter will be a fight. Let’s hope I write a good one. Honestly, Ikkaku power is something that makes no sense in bleach. Well, I can say the same for the whole Soul Society arc. The level shinigami showed during and after the Soul Society arc was completely different. So much that it confused the hell out of me. Of course, some got explanations, like how Zaraki was unconsciously holding back, etc. But how the hell does someone who mastered Bankai like Ikkaku nearly got killed by an Ichigo who didn’t even learn Getsuga tensho when they first fought?)