I Clearly Came First...  

Buzz!

Seeing that the attacks of thirty-odd Zanpakutō could not stop Zaraki's advance, Ailin moved his thoughts and instantly, streaks of golden spatial ripples appeared in the air, instantly dyeing the sky behind Ailin a golden color.

The number had exceeded a hundred.

Zaraki's strength was far greater than that of some Captains even after releasing their Bankais. Just a dozen or so Captain-level Zanpakutō could not pose much of a threat to him.

But when the number of attacks exceeded a hundred...

Under the golden ripples, those Zanpakutō transformed into streaks of golden lightning, covering Zaraki like a torrential downpour.

The earth collapsed and the mountains crumbled. The converged attack of 128 Zanpakutō directly destroyed Zaraki's location, kicking up a mushroom cloud hundreds of meters high.

Then, a powerful shockwave spread out, pulverizing the stones blasted into the air by this tremendous force. And then...

Boom!

In the distance, the Soul Reapers of the 11th Division, seeing the hundred-meter mushroom cloud from the explosion, released their reiatsu with practiced ease.

Although the new members didn't know why they were doing this, since everyone else was, following along was the safe choice.

Thus, a powerful shockwave expanded, but fortunately these Soul Reapers had released their reiatsu, and given their distance from the battle's center, no one was blown away by the shockwave.

"Hahahahaha..."

A burst of wild laughter came from the explosion, and then a golden slash cleaved the mushroom cloud in two as the bloodied Zaraki flew out from the center of the blast, rapidly closing in on Ailin.

As strong as Zaraki was, he had still been injured by that attack of over a hundred Zanpakutō.

With a thought from Ailin, Zanpakutō blade tips emerged from the hundred-plus golden spatial ripples.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Like swift thunderbolts, these Zanpakutō transformed into golden lightning bolts, assaulting Zaraki again.

However, this attack did not converge on a single point like the previous one, but was staggered in a way that sealed off all of Zaraki's movements.

Under such circumstances, Zaraki had to deal with three to five Zanpakutō attacks simultaneously.

Wielding the Zanpakutō in his hands, almost every instant saw blooms of blood erupt from Zaraki's body. But even so, Zaraki did not stop his charge towards Ailin, advancing step-by-step through the storm of swords and blades.

"Hahahahaha..."

As his injuries increased, Zaraki's strength was not diminished, but rather an even more swelling reiatsu burst forth from his body, increasing his power further.

Seeing this, Ailin waved his hand and the golden spatial ripples behind him dissipated. It seemed that unless over a hundred ordinary Zanpakutō were thrown at once, they could not threaten Zaraki.

So how about this?

A spatial ripple even larger than before appeared behind Ailin. Emerging from this golden spatial ripple was the head of a spear. This was a Seated Officer-level Zanpakutō that had been released within Ailin's innate boundary field.

"Shua!"

With a flash of golden light, this spear was already thrusting towards Zaraki.

Klang!

Zaraki's Zanpakutō slashed down on the spear's tip, erupting a powerful shockwave. Centered on Zaraki's feet, the ground collapsed into a large pit. Then, this spear, braced against Zaraki's Zanpakutō, carried immense force to slam Zaraki deep into the ground.

Rumble rumble..

For an instant, the earth seemed to fall silent. Then, the ground surged as a powerful shockwave erupted from hundreds of meters below, kicking up countless dust into a hundred-meter "sand cataract" shooting into the sky.

"Such power..."

Seeing the might of this single spear, Ailin nodded inwardly.

It seemed that by releasing the Zanpakutō before projecting it, the power of a Seated Officer's Zanpakutō was greatly enhanced. It was just unknown how it compared to an unreleased Captain-level Zanpakutō.

But this test also let Ailin know that under the King's Treasury's projection ability, perhaps certain weak Zanpakutō could unleash might several times greater than elemental or demon arts Zanpakutō.

After all, the power of the King's Treasury's thrown weapons had an absolute relationship to the Zanpakutō's speed and weight. At the same speed, the heavier one was naturally more powerful.

Dissipating the golden spatial ripples behind him, Ailin flash stepped through the swirling sand clouds to Zaraki's location.

At this moment, Zaraki's body was covered in gaping wounds, his right hand gripping the Zanpakutō severely twisted and completely unusable.

A black spear was braced against Zaraki's Zanpakutō, grazing his body as it was pinned at the center of the pit.

It was fortunate it ended up this way, as most of Zaraki's current injuries came from the eruption of power when this Zanpakutō hit the ground.

If Zaraki had been directly impaled by this spear, with that immense power exploding within his body, then Zaraki might have truly perished.

Green healing light radiated from Ailin's hands, treating Zaraki's wounds. Soon, under Ailin's ministrations, Zaraki regained consciousness.

"I... lost again?" Zaraki seemed bewildered at having lost the battle just like that.

"Ah, you were careless, Zaraki." Ailin nodded. "Perhaps if you had wielded your sword with both hands, you could have held out a bit longer. But I am rather puzzled, Zaraki, just how arrogant must you be to think you could withstand my attacks with just one hand on your sword?"

Zaraki tilted his head, not answering Ailin's question. Who knew that final attack would be so much more powerful than the earlier Zanpakutō assaults?

"Alright, I'll head back first, Zaraki. I've stabilized your injuries for now, but you should go find Captain Unohana of the 4th Division afterwards to fully heal. Over the next ten years, improve your swordsmanship, Zaraki. Otherwise, the result of our battle in another ten years won't change.

As you are now, you lack even the qualifications to break through the encirclement of my Zanpakutō and face me directly..."

***

Lying on the bed in the 4th Division's hospital, Zaraki's mind replayed Ailin's appearance and those final words he spoke.

Indeed, ten years ago, in that battle where the man had not released his Zanpakutō, using a two-handed sword style, Zaraki had fought him for half a day before being defeated. But this time, that man had finally released his Zanpakutō in their battle.

Just like their first fight, Zaraki sensed the vast chasm in strength between himself and Ailin.

As the man had said, even if he released his Zanpakutō, under the power of that final attack, he could not have endured for long. Never mind that this was just a single weapon.

Zaraki did not believe that level of attack was the limit of what Ailin could unleash in a single volley.

It was more likely, just like the previous assaults, he could release dozens or even hundreds simultaneously.

"I... need to grow stronger."

Moving his hand, Zaraki got out of the bed and headed directly out of the 4th Division grounds.

After wandering around the 4th Division's compound a few times, Zaraki grabbed a 4th Division Soul Reaper with one hand and lifted him up.

"Hey, where is your Division's Captain?"

"Ah? Captain Zaraki, I, I don't know, I'm just an ordinary 4th Division member. I really don't know where Captain Unohana is..."

Faced with this savage "beast" Zaraki, the 4th Division member he had grabbed like a chicken was nearly scared to tears.

"Tch, useless."

Zaraki clicked his tongue, but persisted in asking, "Then do you know who knows where the 4th Division Captain is?"

"Ah, this I know. Lieutenant Isane Kotetsu definitely knows where Captain Unohana is."

"Good, then take me to find that Lieutenant."

"Y-Yes, yes... Um, Captain Zaraki, could you please put me down first?"

After being glared at by Zaraki, this Soul Reaper hurriedly shook his head, "No no no, no need to put me down Captain Zaraki, I'll just guide you like this."

In the end, Zaraki did put the Soul Reaper down. Because he sensed that woman's reiatsu approaching.

"Captain Zaraki, although your injuries have mostly recovered under my healing techniques, but as a patient who has not fully recuperated, wandering around will only cause trouble, you know."

"Hmph."

Zaraki stared at Retsu Unohana for a long while, feeling quite uncomfortable under her narrowed, smiling gaze.

Compared to the current Unohana, Zaraki much preferred the killer-like Yachiru Unohana.

Now, who Zaraki wanted to meet was Yachiru Unohana, not Retsu Unohana.

Unfortunately, in the end, Zaraki did not sense any familiar killing intent from Unohana.

A flicker of disappointment flashed in his eyes as Zaraki finally returned to his sickbed and closed his eyes to rest.

After parting ways with Zaraki, Unohana returned to the 4th Division Captain's office, sitting cross-legged at the desk with her Zanpakutō placed on it. Then, her other hand lightly raised to the braided bun on her chest, trembling slightly. As if, the next moment, she would pull loose the bound braids.

Yesterday, Unohana learned of Zaraki's defeat by Ailin through the other members of the 11th Division.

Zaraki had lost again.

As Zaraki's reiatsu gradually recovered, Unohana's heart was filled with both joy at his regaining strength as well as regret at not having contributed to this process.

I clearly came first! Whether it was her first battle with Zaraki, allowing him to experience the joy of slaughter for the first time, or learning healing techniques from her friend Tenjiro Kirinji so Zaraki would not hold back in their next fight, even integrating the ability to condense reiatsu into blood-colored hot springs into her Bankai...