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The ordinary ZanpakutÅ rested quietly against the scar. A cold weight spread from the blade's tip, freezing Unohana Retsu in place. The bloodthirsty madness in her eyes, the sharp thrill of battle, even the faint ecstasy of releaseāeverything halted at once.
What rose instead was something buried for centuries. A feeling she had not touched in lifetimes, one she had only tasted twice before. The first had been before Yamamoto Genryūsai. The second, before the boy named Kenpachi. And now, for the third time.
Fear.
The edge poised at her throat promised to pierce through her chest in the next breath. In that moment, the eternity she had long forgotten loomed close. She stared blankly at the youth before her, unable to accept the truth. He was too fast. Too impossibly fast. His strike landed before her eyes could even follow. So fast she had not drawn her blade. So fast she had already lost.
What unsettled her most was not the speed, but the initiative. He had moved first. Again and again, he was the one to strike before her. Why? How? The thought returned unbidden, a whisper of that forbidden nameāKenpachi. She had lost to Zaraki and granted him the title of Eleventh. Yet now she had lost to another, a boy whose blade carried the same ferocity, the same inevitability.
The title of Kenpachi belonged to the strongest swordsman of an age. There could be only one. For the first time she wondered if she had chosen wrong. Zaraki had fallen to this same youth, and now she herself had as well. The name might belong not to them, but to Su Li.
Her ZanpakutÅ remained sealed. His strength was far from exhausted. Yet the qualification was undeniable.
She looked at him in silence, then slowly raised a hand to pull back her sleeve. Pale skin gleamed faintly beneath the fabric. Su Li's gaze flicked away, his voice quiet. "I don't know. Just chanceā¦ a random place." It was a clumsy excuse.
Her expression shifted. She studied him deeply, eyes tangled with contradiction. Then a small laugh escaped her, soft as the ringing of a bell. The sound swelled into clear laughter, unrestrained, bright, beautiful. It was the laughter of joy reborn. Su Li stiffened, unsure how to respond, but when the laughter subsided she met his eyes.
"Thank you, Su Li," she said, voice warm.
He turned back toward her. Their gazes touchedāhis clear and direct, hers soft and blooming like a flower. "I am very happy," she added, smiling gently.
"You're welcome," he muttered, cheeks coloring with rare shyness.
She leaned closer, teasing lilt on her lips. "Didn't you say your ZanpakutÅ does not respond?"
His expression collapsed. He crouched in a panic, gripping the blade with trembling hands, whispering frantically to himself. "Eggy, don't be angryā¦ I didn't use youā¦ I just scared her, I swearā¦ Daddy keeps his promises, you know thatā¦"
Unohana watched, amusement stirring as curiosity tugged at her. She bent slightly, straining to catch his wordsā
The dojo doors slammed open with a resounding boom.
A man with blazing red hair stormed inside. Abarai Renji.
"Captain Su Li, Iā" His voice cut short, the rest strangled by the sight before him.
Unohana stood gracefully, sliding her sleeve back over her arm, letting her hair fall to veil her chest. Su Li remained crouched, still muttering apologies to his ZanpakutÅ.
"I didn't touch youā¦ you can't blame meā¦ I'm not that kind of personā¦"
Renji's throat locked. His eyes widened in disbelief. A young man sunk in self-reproach. A woman smoothing her clothes. A silence heavy with suggestion. Heat flushed his neck. His thoughts tangled in chaos.
"Did Iā¦ come at the wrong timeā¦ should I have knocked earlierā¦"
His mind reeled, desperately painting unseen scenes, filling gaps with fevered imagination.
Unohana broke the silence first. "Vice-Captain Abarai, you came at the right time," she said softly, her hand resting at her chest. "Captain Su Li has been waiting for you. The rest is in your hands." She smiled with practiced serenity and stepped past him, leaving the dojo behind.
Renji's heart thundered. His gaze darted between her retreating figure and the muttering Su Li. The weight of unspoken scandal pressed down on his narrow shoulders. He could not breathe.
The dojo quieted again, only Su Li's murmurs breaking the stillness. Finally Renji approached, hesitant. "Captain Su Liā¦ shall we still practice? Orā¦ would you prefer to rest first?"
"Rest?" Su Li blinked, then scowled. "Rest? Hell no! Get upāwe're practicing!" He rose sharply, sheathing his blade with finality.
Renji stiffened, snapping to attention. He shoved aside the bundle of papers strapped to his back and readied his ZanpakutÅ. His expression turned solemn, awaiting command.
Su Li strode to the rack and pulled down two heavy wooden swords. He tossed one across the room. "Use this."
Renji caught it reverently, pulse racing. His grip tightened. "Captain Su Li, what will we practice?"
"Your hand-to-hand is sloppy. My KidÅ is weak. Shunpo you must train yourself. ZanpakutÅ release I cannot teach. That leaves only one thing I can show you." His tone leveled, calm and sharp. "KendÅ."
Renji's eyes widened, the fire in them flaring again.
Su Li ignored him, crossing to the abandoned basket and pulling free a thick sheaf of papers. "Remember. Whether swordsmanship or cutting technique, there is only one principle." His eyes glinted, words slow and deliberate. "Fast. Accurate. Ruthless."
He stepped forward, holding the papers aloft. "Watch carefully. I will demonstrate only once."
The papers flew skyward in a wide scatter.
Su Li's wooden blade blurred.
A whisper of steel. A single flash.
The storm of paper drifted back down in perfect silenceāeach sheet cleanly severed into two identical halves. Dozens of cuts, all uniform, all flawless.
Renji's jaw fell open. His eyes bulged round as coins. "Thisā¦" He could hardly breathe. To cut like this with a ZanpakutÅ was nearly impossible. With a wooden sword, it was madness.
How fast. How precise. How merciless.
Impossibleāyet it lay shredded before him, as neat as an executioner's work.
Su Li exhaled, voice quiet. "We start with this. When you can do it, we will move on."
Renji trembled, awe flooding his chest. His voice cracked with suppressed excitement. "ā¦Captain!"
For the first time, he felt he had stepped into the presence of a true master.
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