Starting with Naruto, I'll become stronger through my own efforts.

Chapter 424 Sister Hua is mighty, Sister Hua is wise!

Ichigo Kurosaki opened his mouth, but finally admitted honestly, "I... I couldn't sit up back then, and I still can't sit still now."

Ye nodded: "If you can recognize the facts and admit that you are not as strong as the enemy, there is still hope."

In reality, could Ichigo Kurosaki not know that he won by sheer luck?

Moreover, the premise of defeating Kenpachi by luck was that he relied on Zangetsu's approval and fought closely with his Zanpakuto, which temporarily gave him the same level of spiritual pressure as Kenpachi Zaraki.

He won not just with a bit of luck, but with two strokes of good fortune; he was truly lucky to a certain extent.

But Ichigo Kurosaki still asked, "But my comrades have all been captured, how can I just watch them suffer? And Rukia, what will happen to her?"

"What do we do?" Yoruichi scoffed. "There's no way!"

"You almost lost your life fighting Kenpachi Zaraki. The current Gotei 13 has a full complement of 13 captains and 13 vice-captains."

"With your current strength, no method is a solution; it's just suicide!"

Ichigo Kurosaki lowered his head. Yes, he had fought tooth and nail to defeat only one captain, and there were a total of 13 such enemies.

No matter how hard you try, you can't beat them all.

"Also, don't overlook the vice-captains. Any one of them is second only to the captain in strength," Yoruichi added. "They're all much stronger than you anyway."

Ichigo Kurosaki was completely dumbfounded. It turned out that there were not 13 enemies, but 26!

He sat blankly on the ground, his back soaked with cold sweat. The unreasonable strength of the Gotei 13 made him waver in his idea of ​​saving Rukia.

"Furthermore, Kenpachi Zaraki isn't exactly the strongest captain. The reason I saved you back then was because I discovered a super troublesome captain was approaching."

Yoruichi, still shaken, said thankfully, "If this senior captain had seen us, the consequences would have been unimaginable."

"Miss Yoruichi, who is the senior captain you mentioned? Is he the strongest?"

Yoruichi Shihouin said very seriously, "It's not him, it's her."

"Retsu Unohana-senpai, she is a very senior member and the captain of the Fourth Division."

Kurosaki Ichigo was taken aback, recalling the 11th Division's mockery of the 4th Division, and the soft-spoken Hanatarou, and couldn't help but say, "The 4th Division, that medical team that's not valued by anyone."

Yoruichi couldn't help but laugh as she recalled the Fourth Division's performance in battle: "The Fourth Division was responsible for medical care, and even the responsibility of battlefield first aid was taken over by the Fifth Division. Their combat strength was indeed a bit lacking."

"However, this does not mean that Unohana-senpai is weak."

"Many people are misled by Captain Unohana's gentle and quiet appearance, and of course, I'm one of them, because she really is gentle!"

After snapping out of her infatuation, Yoruichi Shihouin said, "Okay, I admit it, Captain Unohana might not be pretending, but is genuinely kind."

"However, I learned from the ancient records passed down by the Shihouin family that my senior was one of the first Shinigami who joined the Soul Society at its inception. She was a powerful figure who followed Captain-Commander Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekuni in conquering the world."

Ichigo Kurosaki asked, "Excuse me, I don't know much about the history of Soul Society. Are beings like this very powerful?"

Yoruichi thought for a moment and said, "Imagine if there were such a person who, starting from the early Sengoku period in Japan, fought his way from the east to the west, defeating the Tiger of Kai, the Dragon of Echigo, the Great Demon King Oda, and the Regent Monkey with his own strength, and then unified all of Japan."

Kurosaki Ichigo stared in disbelief: "Huh?"

Yoruichi suddenly smiled: "This is Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekuni, the Captain-Commander of the Gotei 13, and his top general is Unohana-senpai."

Ichigo Kurosaki: "————"

Yoruichi chuckled and said, "Anyway, in front of this senior, a rookie Shinigami like you can be taken down with a single strike; there's no need for a second!"

Kurosaki Ichigo was deeply shocked and involuntarily fell into a state of profound despair!

Yoruichi Shihouin slapped the back of the brace with a "smack," causing him excruciating pain and a scream.

Yoruichi encouraged Ichigo, saying, "Don't be so discouraged, kid!"

"Kisuke Urahara and I have our eyes on you and are willing to do everything we can to help you. Of course, we believe you can win."

"Your talent surpasses that of any of the 13 captains, including Unohana-senpai, and you will be able to surpass them in the near future."

"But if you want to become a true powerhouse, you need to master the Bankai that the captains must master!"

Ichigo Kurosaki's eyes lit up, and he murmured, "Bankai—what is that?"

Yoruichi narrowed her eyes: "Seriously, having to start from the basics is so annoying!"

"To describe Bankai in one sentence, it would be: the second stage of release after the Zanpakuto's Shikai, which is also the final form of the Zanpakuto."

"Hehe, let me tell you some information that will make you happy. After a Shinigami masters Bankai, their spiritual pressure and combat power will experience a qualitative leap. As far as I know, depending on each Shinigami's individual circumstances, their combat power in Bankai state is generally 5 to 10 times that of their Shikai state."

Without hesitation, Ichigo Kurosaki said, "Please teach me Bankai, Yoruichi!"

Yoruichi said seriously, "Now you know how powerful Bankai is, but out of tens of thousands of Shinigami in the Soul Society, there are fewer than 20 who have mastered Bankai. It's one in a thousand."

"The Gotei 13 suffered heavy losses recently, reducing the number of Shinigami who have mastered Bankai to less than 10."

"Except for the 11th Division, the captains of the other 12 divisions are required to master Bankai, so many division captain positions have been vacant for many years."

Ichigo Kurosaki exhaled and said firmly, "I will definitely master Bankai. Please teach me!"

Yoruichi Shihouin nodded in satisfaction: "Very good. To learn Bankai, one must first materialize the Zanpakuto itself and achieve a surrendered state. Therefore, we will start by communicating with the Zanpakuto —"

Ichigo listened attentively, nodding occasionally to show that he understood.

Natsusa and Unohana Retsu walked side by side, listening to Unohana recount her dream as they strolled from Central Room 46 to the battlefield where the fighting was most intense.

That is, the battlefields of Kenpachi Zaraki versus Shunsui Kyoraku, and Yachiru versus Jushiro Ukitake.

At this point, all the other battlefields had calmed down, leaving only this one, so all the Grim Reapers were converging on that spot.

-

"In the end, in my own exhaustion, I repeatedly brought Kenpachi Zaraki to the brink of death, then healed him and continued to fight with him, unleashing his potential."

"Time and time again, until he finally snapped and killed himself by slitting his own throat—"

"This feels strange. How could I have done something so irrational?"

"Kenpachi Zaraki is certainly much better than Kenpachi Onigenjo, but the gap between him and me is too great. Even if I help him master Bankai and grasp the true essence of swordsmanship—it would still take him a thousand years to surpass me."

"Why should I trade my 100 combat power for Kenpachi's promotion from level 7 to 10?"

"This is such a bad deal!"

Xia Zuo raised an eyebrow: "Who would know?"

"We are completely different today than we were yesterday, let alone who knows how many years from now we will be."

"Or perhaps it's what's called a 'plot-driven death'."

Unohana Retsu asked curiously, "What is a plot-driven death?"

Xia Zuo replied, "It's like a story where an exceptionally powerful force appears, enough to end the story."

"In order to keep the story going, the author has no choice but to kill off this exceptionally powerful force in a very illogical but plausible way."

"In short, it was a death arranged by the plot."

Retsu Unohana smiled and said, "Your idea is interesting."

For a long time afterward, the two remained silent and stopped speaking.

After sharing the secret she had been keeping hidden in her heart, Retsu Unohana felt her pressure lessen by half, and she enjoyed a moment of relaxation.

Meanwhile, Xia Zuo is processing the astonishing information that Unohana Retsu has been reborn or has obtained future memories.

My goodness! Sister Hua was the first Kenpachi, the strongest, the bloodiest Kenpachi, a powerful character who was killed by the plot.

In some ways, Sister Hana's combat power is stronger than that of the aging Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekuni, and her intelligence is also well concealed, making her almost impossible to target.

Retsu Unohana's rebirth is a major change that could rewrite the course of the Soul Society War.

After a long while, Xia Zuo suddenly called out to Unohana Retsu: "Hana-nee."

"Hmm?" The older sister turned her head gently, smiling at Xia Zuo, gesturing for him to continue.

Xia Zuo took a deep breath and asked, "Tell me about this dream, instead of Captain-Commander Yamamoto?"

Without hesitation, Retsu Unohana replied, "Because you're not in my dreams."

"My dreams were fragmented; I only knew that there were two large-scale wars, but I didn't even know who the enemy was, who died, or who survived to the end—"

"But I can confirm that the four seats of the 11th Division are vacant, and you are the only Shinigami who is certain that you are not in my dream."

"If I want to change my fate of inexplicably sacrificing my life, of course I have to find a variable that didn't exist before."

"Xia Zuo, you can help me, right?"

Xia Zuo nodded and promised, "I will do my best, Sister Hua."

Unohana Retsu looked at Natsusa with surprise: "Oh my, judging from your tone, you agree that my dream is real, a premonition that will happen in the future."

"So, you know more, and more accurately?"

Xia Zuo clicked his tongue in shock: "Sister Hua, you're so smart, you'll never find a boyfriend."

Unohana Retsu laughed, her laughter shaking her head: "Hahahaha, boyfriend? Hahaha, so I'm thousands of years old, and I still need to find a boyfriend?!"

"Sigh, I'm a woman soaked in blood and water, I've lived for thousands of years, and I still haven't found a man I'm attracted to. Why would I need a boyfriend?"

Now it was Xia Zuo's turn to be embarrassed. He was considered long-lived among Xia Zuo, with a combined age of over 300 years across his two lifetimes, but he was no match for the "big sister" in front of him. He wasn't even a fraction of her age.

Unohana Retsu suddenly said, as if possessed, "Hmm, you seem to like me quite a bit. If I still can't find a man in 20 years, I'll just use you as a substitute."

Xia Zuo chuckled: "I would never refuse a beauty like Sister Hua, who has a personality like a Yamato Nadeshiko."

""

Retsu Unohana's smile faded, and she asked, "Let's get down to business. In the future you know, who was responsible for the incident involving Chamber 46?"

"Aizen." Xia Zuo looked around to make sure no one was there before continuing, "Captain of the Fifth Division, Aizen Sousuke."

Retsu Unohana's eyes widened slightly: "Aizen? It was him?"

"His strength is just so-so. His Zanpakuto is only water-based—water—water mirror, a world within a mirror, an illusion!"

Retsu Unohana suddenly swayed, pressing her left hand to her head, which was throbbing with pain: "Aizen! It really is a Genjutsu-type Zanpakuto, with perfect hypnotic abilities!"

"Yes, it can only be him. Only absolute illusion magic ability can break through layers of protection, attack the Forty-Six Chambers, and even manipulate them as puppets."

"This kid's got some nerve, he actually tried to hypnotize me too, and even enhanced it to a level that gives me a headache."

Xia Zuo swallowed hard; this was terrifying.

Retsu Unohana actually broke free from the hypnosis of "Mirror Flower, Water Moon" because she believed what she said was true. What kind of powerful ability is that?

As expected, even with the powerful abilities of someone like Sister Hua, the hypnosis of "Mirror Flower Water Moon" could only suspend part of her cognition in a balancing manner.

It's not that I don't want to completely control her like I do with Hinamori Momo, it's just that I can't.

Not only is it impossible, but there is also the risk of being directly stimulated and breaking free with a single shake.

No wonder they didn't target old man Yamamoto; it wasn't out of disdain, but because they couldn't bring themselves to do it.

"Aizen—Hmph!" Retsu Unohana snorted coldly, looking at the increasingly violent battlefield: "Once I've dealt with the chaos here, I'll go and chop him down."

Xia Zuo gave a thumbs up: "Sister Hua is awesome! Sister Hua is brilliant!"

As the first Kenpachi, even if he was tired of killing and bloodshed, the habits of a swordsman were definitely ingrained in Unohana Retsu's very bones.

Now that we know the enemy is Aizen, we should just go and kill him whenever we have the chance. There's absolutely no need to keep arguing.

She, Retsu Unohana, was a founding member of the Gotei 13 and a meritorious Shinigami in the establishment of the Seireitei. Even without evidence, she could kill a Shinigami she suspected.

Even the captain of the Fifth Division was killed without hesitation!

Retsu Unohana's suspicions are more convincing than any evidence!

If Aizen were to accidentally reveal even the slightest weakness during his battle with Unohana Retsu, such as by using the hypnotic and genjutsu abilities of [Kyoka Suigetsu], he would essentially be sealing his own fate.

This is the terrifying reputation that Retsu Unohana has built up over thousands of years.

At that time, old man Yamamoto will personally wield his sword and strike Aizen to eliminate this deeply hidden scourge.

>