Bleach: Stirring Up a Storm

”What do you mean by this? Why don’t you just kill me?”

Ikkaku still remembered shouting those words at the man’s back. ”You’ve already won, so just kill me!”

Thinking back on it now, such words were laughably childish.

”Sorry, I have absolutely no interest in people who have lost their will to fight, and even less reason to go out of my way to kill them.”

*’Isn’t this trampling my beliefs underfoot? My strength isn’t even enough for you to bother taking my life?’*

”Stop joking around! Are you looking down on me? Do it!”

That was his response. Ikkaku remembered every single word he had said back then. What a hopeless idiot he was.

”Stop throwing a tantrum. If you love fighting too, then don’t ask me to kill you. Don’t wish for death just because you admitted defeat! You should only admit defeat when you’re dead!”

That man’s way of thinking was truly bizarre, and his words made one’s head spin. ”If you lose but don’t die, it means you’re lucky. At a time like that, you should be thinking about how to survive!”

*’Who in their right mind treats an insult as luck!’*

”Try to survive, and then think about how to kill the guy who didn’t kill you back then.”

*’He even spoke of revenge with such pride.’*

”It’s not like I intentionally let you go. Surviving this just means you’re lucky.” Ikkaku still remembered the man’s smile—arrogant, yet without a hint of deceit. ”Survive! Then come find me, and let’s kill each other again.”

In the end, he even made his enemy sound so endearing. Like a child who had found a new toy, he earnestly told his old one, ”When you’re fixed, remember to come play with me.”

But that was probably just his own interpretation. Ikkaku could feel the man’s sincerity. If he said it was luck, then it truly was his opponent’s luck. If he said to come fight him again, then he genuinely wanted to clash blades once more...

He loved fighting from the bottom of his heart. What meaning did battle hold for him? Perhaps none at all. The boiling blood amidst the flash of blades and shadows of swords was enough to leave him intoxicated.

There was no special reason; if he wanted to fight you, he would draw his blade. There was no fixed outcome either—victory or defeat, killing or being killed, both dying or both living—the result came naturally. What mattered was the process of the battle itself.

Ikkaku’s beliefs were shattered along with his first defeat.

However, what shattered was the belief of a man who similarly loved fighting, but had unknowingly put on shackles and become a slave to battle.

That man named Zaraki Kenpachi seemed to have taught him what a true warrior was.

Victory might be glory, but defeat was absolutely not a disgrace. Giving one’s all in every single battle—that was what a warrior should truly take pride in!

Yes, the current Ikkaku was no longer fixated on winning or losing. Moreover, after following Zaraki to Seireitei, the word ’lose’ had become all too common.

From the seated officers at the beginning to the lieutenants, and now the various captains, there seemed to be no shortage of beings capable of defeating him here. If he still held onto the mindset of ’rather die than lose,’ a hundred lives wouldn’t be enough.

Not to mention, even Zaraki Kenpachi had experienced defeat, from Shihouin Kōe to Kurosaki Ichigo. No one could remain undefeated forever. Bravely admitting defeat was sometimes truly a virtue.

Therefore, Ikkaku agreed with Edrad’s words. Even if the opponent was an Arrancar, he would absolutely not be stingy with the words, ”I lost.”

But he couldn’t admit defeat right now. He hadn’t fallen yet, nor was it time to die. There were too many reasons not to give up.

But among them, the most important reason was that he hadn’t gone all out yet. Someone who admitted defeat without giving their all was unworthy of staying in Squad 11.

Ikkaku tightly gripped the last remaining section of Hōzukimaru in his palm, his right fist forward and left fist back, facing Edrad. However, he didn’t plan on using his full strength—because he couldn’t, and therefore, he didn’t want to.

At this moment, the battles across Karakura Town were somewhat deadlocked, but their most crucial asset, Captain Shihouin, hadn’t made a move yet. He was definitely keeping an eye on every battlefield, including this one.

And if Mr. Shihouin saw his true strength, he would no longer be able to stay under his captain’s command. That was even harder to accept than death.

Kōe was indeed monitoring every battlefield. In fact, his gaze had lingered on the spot where Ikkaku and Edrad were fighting for quite some time, showing no signs of looking away.

This was entirely because he had just received a ’phone call’—a ’call’ from the Department of Research and Development in Seireitei.

”Excuse me, is this Lord Captain Shihouin?”

”Speak.”

”Yes!” The voice on the other end sounded somewhat constrained, speaking cautiously. ”Lord Ayasegawa just contacted us, asking us to prepare a squad funeral for Madarame Ikkaku. But according to the Department of Research and Development’s sensors, Madarame Ikkaku’s Reiatsu is still present. Could you please go and rescue him?”

There was really no helping it. Yumichika’s request was far too bizarre, even startling the Squad 12 members acting as the temporary special liaison office.

One must remember that the person leading the team to the World of the Living was Lord Shihouin. Now you’re telling them to prepare a squad funeral? Did the battle situation become this severe just while the staff at the temporary special liaison office were dozing off?!

After quickly confirming the vitals of the special squad members deployed to the World of the Living, and even ruling out the possibility of false data, these people immediately contacted Kōe. Could it be that Lord Shihouin fell asleep and didn’t notice the others were fighting?

No one would probably believe such a thing if said out loud, but they still had to be prepared just in case.

”I’ll keep an eye on it.”

”Then, about the squad funeral?”

”Keep preparing it, just in case!”

Just in case? With you there, what ’case’ could there possibly be? The squad member in charge of communications looked completely bewildered. If an accident could still happen under these circumstances, then he might as well schedule his own squad funeral too.

He really wanted to ask Kōe if he needed backup, but unfortunately, the other party had already unilaterally cut the connection. If Urahara had been there, he could have added a footnote: the connection was cut off *in anger*...

Ever since then, Kōe’s eyes hadn’t left that direction for a single second. His gaze was terrifyingly cold.

Urahara couldn’t help but wonder if the ’just in case’ Kōe mentioned referred to Kōe himself.

”Mr. Madarame’s situation is quite dangerous.”

”Yeah, that baldy is about to become a dead baldy,” Kōe replied coldly, the air pressure around him seemingly dropping another notch.

Urahara was unaffected, continuing, ”Still not going to step in?”

”He has the ability to resolve this himself. If I have to step in, he really will be lying in a coffin attending his own squad funeral.”

”Oh? Could it be?”

”He has Bankai.”

Kōe confirmed Urahara’s suspicion. Practically gritting his teeth, he sneered sarcastically, ”I want to see how long he can keep hiding it. Let’s see if he’d rather hide it to the grave than let anyone know how strong he really is!”