"Namikaze eh?! We finally meet! You owe me a battle! Hehehe. Draw your blade. Let me see how sharp it really is.."
The man's blade pointed directly at Minato, as the lingering Reiatsu from his core blanketed the entire vicinity, almost turning day into night.
"Hehehe. It's alright Nami-san, Kenny here has been itching to fight you from the first day he heard of you. I hope you'll give it your all after all, Kenny's strong." The little girl on his shoulder laughed, and addressed Minato.
Rangiku stepped forward fearlessly. "Captain Zaraki, fighting on Academy grounds is a punishable offence. Do you really want to endanger the lives of every-" She had yet to finish her statement when a single glare from him made her knees buckle.
"You stay out of my way, else I'll cut you myself" His voice carried an imperceptible weight and authority. And as his Reiatsu locked onto her figure, he stared her down, like a God watching a mortal from above.
Meanwhile, Toshiro, Genma and Momo were flabbergasted, confused even. Captain level Shinigami were like a fairy tale, yet, today, one of them, the most recognizable, was standing right in front of them hoping to challenge Minato.
"Kenpachi Zaraki is it? Maybe you've heard of me, maybe you haven't, but one thing you should never do is threaten my people.." Minato own Reiatsu flared up against Zaraki's, a yellowish flame, that resisted Zaraki's ungodly power. Where Minato's Reiatsu lacked in quantity, he made up for it in quality.
Walking towards Rangiku, he stood in front of her with his back straight shielding her from the destructiveness of Zaraki's own power. His cold blue eyes stared down Zaraki with murderous intent. Rangiku's almost teary eyed stared at his straight lean back in relief. The suffocating power from Zaraki's glare had been unbearable.
"Ooooh Kenny, I think Nami-san is mad. This will be fun!!" Yachiru hopped off Zaraki's shoulders and rushed towards Genma and the rest.
"Things are going to get dangerous. Let's get outta here!!" She grabbed Toshiro and Momo, tried grabbing Genma, but he rushed behind Minato.
"I want to fight with you sensei! " Genma grit his teeth unsheathed his asauchi. Minato turned towards him coldly. "Sheathe your blade. This is not your fight." The boy tried to protest. "But sensei!!" Minato's stern expression deflated his ego like a puffed up balloon.
"Get Rangiku and get out of this place. I'll handle this.." Minato's hands slowly reached out towards his blade wrapped around his lower back. Zaraki was strong, no doubt. Even stronger than he currently was. The man himself was an open dam of malevolent Reiatsu that made Minato's heart shudder. Losing only to the Kyuubi, Zaraki's incredible reserves was more than anything Minato had felt from anyone in this world.
It didn't mean he was going to back down. Zaraki surely wouldn't. His pride as a Shinobi wouldn't allow him to back down. Not from an open challenge such as this.
"Captain Zaraki, it's forbidden to fight on the school grounds. Let's take this somewhere else.. " He looked him straight in the eye and spoke calmly.
"Heh. Follow me!!" Zaraki laughed and then blasted himself into the skies with incredible power, headed deep into the Gotei 13. Minato took in a deep breath. His eyes turned sharp, as he steeled his resolve and disappeared in a flicker of yellow.
Meanwhile...
Omnitsukido Division
Yoruichi sat down behind a couple of paper work, plans for infiltration that Kisuke had prepared. She herself had to go through using her expertise to make sure it was plausible before the plan was enacted, but just then, she was interrupted rudely.
Soi Fon rushed into her quarters for the first time without proper etiquette, but judging from her distressed face, it looked urgent.
"Lady Yoruichi- Captain Zaraki intercepted Minato for a battle challenge on the academy grounds. Our sources say they're currently headed to the 11th Divisions barracks for an all out fight! "
She laid out the information just as she had received it to Yoruichi without pausing and watched as the expression on her mistress' face change.
" Dammit!" Yoruichi cursed out angrily, pushed away the paperwork on her desk. She grabbed her Haori in one swift motion and then turned into a blur of purple. Minato was strong, no doubt. But Zaraki was a different breed. There was a reason why he was a Captain despite having no knowledge whatsoever of the basic Shinigami fundamental skills, Hoho, Kido, or even Zanjutsu, yet he effortlessly killed the previous Kenpachi solidifying his person in the Gotei 13. He was a madman who only knew how to swing his blade like the lunatic he was.
Minato was strong, but Zaraki was a monster.
4th Division wards...
Captain Unohana was calmly seated in her office, going through a couple of medical records, when her brows creased into a frown. "Zaraki?" She sighed as she uttered his name, knowing exactly what he was up to. Of course she never once felt a doubt in her heart in regard to his strength, just a lingering regret of what he could've been..
8th Division..
Shunsui sat within his courtyard, accompanied by none other than his best friend Ukitake, the two idle Captains drinking and gambling, leaving paperwork to their respective lieutenants.
"Zaraki eh? Even he wants a piece of Minato.. Heh. This is going to be fun.." Shunsui laughed as he finished his cup of sake.
"Zaraki's strong, but Minato's smarter. If the only thing the fellow will do is swing his blade, he might lose.." Jushiro placed his hands on his chin and commented after a bit of thought.
"You willing to gamble? My bets are on Zaraki. You can't outsmart raw power, Jushiro.
11th Division
Dozens of Shinigami run out from their dojos, heading towards the battle arena within their division.
" What's with all the fuss?!" Someone who had just woken up from sleep due all the noise asked.
"Captain Zaraki's fighting!!" Someone responded and the guy who asked grabbed his cloak and followed the crowd.
***
Zaraki landed with incredible power, denting the earth, like a meteor, blade resting on his shoulder while a large smile hang on his lips.
Minato blurred into motion half a second later, eyes completely focused on Zaraki who had a wild smirk on his face. "It's time!!!" With a loud cry, Reiatsu exploded from the figure of the hulking man as he grabbed his blade and let out a slash backed by incredible power.
Minato held his breath. Faint ripple of a yellow Reiatsu wrapped his figure as he blurred into motion. Zaraki's destructive slash tore into the surrounding environment. A flash of gold revealed Minato who grabbed his blade on his lower back, in a split second.
His time in solitude hadn't been wasted. Now he was as fast as when he was alive using the Body Flicker Technique if not faster. Since Reiatsu was more volatile than chakra it made sense he'd be faster than before.
None of the surrounding Shinigami had even seen how and when he had moved. As his blade tore through the air, ripping towards Zaraki's back, Minato's eyes suddenly widened when he spotted, Zaraki's eyes slowly turning to him.
His brows lifted in surprise and he aborted, disappearing in a flash before another slash tore a massive groove in the earth where he stood. Minato's eyes squinted as he blurred into motion, above Zaraki.
His blade swung an arc as it tore towards Zaraki's head with incredible lethality. But, before Minato's blade could make contact, Zaraki moved. His blade rose above in an arc, blocking Minato's wakizashi from making contact.
"Hehe!" Lifting his head, Zaraki let out a wild laugh, as his arms moved to grab Minato, yet the man simply disappeared in a flash of yellow. He reappeared several meters away in a crouched position, while watching Zaraki intently.
'He's not fast. But his instincts are the sharpest I've seen in this world.' Minato mused, frowning. Zaraki wasn't fighting him speed for speed, no. The fellow was reacting to Minato's speed with his own almost feral line instincts, anticipating his attacks.
"Hehe! Don't tell me that's all you got, Namikaze! Give me your all!!!" Zaraki pointed his blade towards Minato, stamped his foot and erupted with incredible speed, crossing the distance between the two in the blink of an eye.
Even without knowledge of Shunpo, Zaraki's own bodily speed was very impressive. Only problem was, Minato wasn't an ordinary Shinigami to be caught off guard by such speed. He corkscrewed out of Zaraki's range of attack, as a powerful slash tore into the ground.
BANG!
A mushroom cloud exploded. Zaraki's raw power was even greater than Isshin. A body flicker carried Minato before Zaraki in the blink of an eye, before the dust could settle. As the towering figure grabbed his blade and swung a deadly arc towards him while in midair, he flipped himself forcefully, stepping lightly on the incoming blade and leapt onto Zaraki's shoulders.
A kunai flipped between his fingers which he let rip into Zaraki's eye. But, even though his right arm was still swinging his blade in mid motion, his left arm stretched outwards, caught Minato's arm and slammed him into the ground forcefully.
The ground beneath cracked, as Minato gasped in pain. But without wasting time, he rolled away into a side flip, dodging Zaraki's blade that came right for his chest.
"Captain Zaraki is far slower than that fellow, yet his battle instincts seemed to have adapting to Minato's fighting style. He really is a monster.. "
Watching from a vantage point within the 11th Division, Ikkaku with one hand on his blade chuckled lightly, as he turned to Yumichika who was actively following the battle playing out before them.
"You're right. The way he's reacting to Minato, you'll think he's switched to auto pilot. But, Minato is barely trying on the other hand. We know what he can do, Ikkaku, we've experienced it beforehand. I don't think Captain Zaraki can react to Minato's instantaneous motion. It's impossible.. "
Yumichika was rather critical in his analysis of the fight. Ikkaku was praising Zaraki for doing what they could not, that was react to Minato even when he was not using his shikai. Yet the facts were simple.
The battle was sure to end the moment Minato pulled out his shikai. Despite Zaraki being strong, it was literally impossible to react to instant movement.