"Admiral… be careful."
"My Zanpakutō…"
"can kill you."
Gin Ichimaru narrowed his eyes and slowly drew his blade, his icy voice carrying clearly into every ear present.
"Oh… so you're planning to kill me the moment we meet?" Kizaru honestly felt a little slighted.
He was one of the Navy's three Admirals—one of the highest combat powers in the entire world.
And yet here he was, being looked down on like some rookie who had only just started making a name for himself.
Worse—
this challenge came right in front of his subordinates.
That was an outright blow to the dignity of a Marine Admiral.
Still, Kizaru's self-control ran deep. He was not so shallow that this level of provocation would make him lose his composure.
He quickly steadied himself and began carefully observing Gin Ichimaru.
A black shihakushō.
A white captain's haori.
Clothes he had never seen before.
A weapon that looked ordinary, yet clearly concealed deadly intent.
And above all—
that faint but unmistakable aura of superiority.
"Shinigami… it seems you really are something special."
Though Kizaru still could not tell exactly what Gin was, he had already realized one thing:
This man was definitely not just another pirate.
"Oh my, are you looking for an opening?" Gin smiled like a fox, mysterious and impossible to read. "You should give up on that idea, Admiral."
"Oh? So you noticed. How terrifying."
Kizaru shook his head.
Even though all his focus had been fixed on Gin from the start, he still couldn't find a single opening.
This silver-haired man seemed utterly flawless.
"Well then, Admiral… are you ready? I'm about to make my move."
Even after sensing Kizaru's hostility, Gin didn't attack immediately. Instead, he calmly let Kizaru examine him again and again before finally speaking.
"Shoot to kill… Shinsō!"
The moment the release command fell, the short blade in Gin's hand burst with blinding light.
A streak of brilliance shot straight toward Kizaru.
The sudden flash stabbed into everyone's eyes—
and even Kizaru failed to react in time.
"Oh… sorry about that. Looks like my body can't quite keep up with your swordsmanship, little brother."
As soon as he spoke, a wound appeared in the center of Kizaru's forehead, cleanly pierced through.
"…Hm?"
Since it was Gin's first time fighting a Logia user, his gaze lingered on the hole in Kizaru's forehead, and a trace of confusion surfaced on his face.
"Oh… that was close. I nearly got killed there. How scary."
As Kizaru spoke, the wound in his forehead gradually closed.
"Oh my, Admiral… you still weren't ready, were you?"
As one of Soul Society's greatest prodigies, Gin quickly connected the dots between this phenomenon and the concepts of Logia intangibility and Armament Haki. His usual smiling expression returned.
"Well, I didn't expect you to be this skilled," Kizaru replied, still uncertain after being caught off guard. But his face revealed nothing. Instead, his gaze shifted, almost imperceptibly, to the blade in Gin's hand.
What exactly had that attack been?
Was the secret in the sword itself?
This man was dangerous.
"Admiral, you're not bad either. But this time… don't be careless."
By now, the wound on Kizaru's forehead had already vanished without a trace. Regeneration-like abilities were not something Gin had never seen before, so he simply aimed for Kizaru's body again and struck.
"I see… so it really is the blade."
To ordinary people, Gin's attack was far too fast to follow. But Kizaru, as a light-man, still managed to catch the instant Gin swung.
This time, he barely evaded Shinsō's thrust.
"What a dangerous weapon…"
After crossing blades again, Kizaru quietly thanked fate that Gin did not know Haki—or so he thought. If that thrust had been coated in Armament Haki, then even as a man made of light, he would not have escaped unscathed.
But—
the moment that thought crossed his mind—
Kizaru regretted it.
Without any visible motion at all, Gin appeared behind him like a phantom.
A flash of steel streaked by—
and a line of blood opened across Kizaru's shoulder.
His real body had been struck.
He had been caught by Armament Haki.
"You really do hide things well, little brother."
Kizaru reached up to touch the wound on his shoulder. When he saw the blood on his fingers, his brows finally tightened.
"It seems my guess was right, Admiral." Gin still smiled, but the killing intent hidden inside that smile had reached a terrifying peak. "Now that Armament Haki can touch you… you should start taking this seriously."
The chill behind that smile made Kizaru move on instinct.
"Have you ever been kicked at the speed of light?"
His voice turned cold—still strange and oily as ever—as his body abruptly transformed into a beam of golden light.
"Light-Speed Kick!"
Photons gathered at his leg, and in the next moment, he unleashed a kick at the speed of light—aimed directly at Gin's head.
A golden flash exploded outward.
Danger closed in.
"Admiral… your speed is pretty good."
Before the kick could land, Gin's voice suddenly came from behind Kizaru.
"…Hm?"
Kizaru had only just reacted when a chill ran down his back. He twisted slightly and found, to his surprise, that Gin had somehow appeared behind him, staring at him with a playful look.
At the same time—
the Light-Speed Kick struck the ground.
Boom—!
The flash passed in an instant, but the wide street below collapsed at once. The impact tore the entire area apart, reducing it to rubble in the blink of an eye.
"Mind if I ask a question?"
Kizaru's gaze shifted toward Ren Kuro, confusion flickering across his face.
"Was that teleportation just now?"
"Oh no, Admiral, don't misunderstand." Gin answered with a cheerful smile. "That's simply Shunpo, a movement technique unique to Shinigami."
"Shunpo…"
Kizaru's expression grew heavier.
"Looks like you've finally started taking this seriously, Admiral. Though my hand-to-hand skills are limited…" Gin raised his Zanpakutō again, its tip aimed directly at Kizaru, and the smile at the corner of his lips sharpened into something even more fox-like. "So I think this is for the best."
In the next instant—
the release chant rang through the sky.
Bankai—Kamishini no Yari!
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