The Den of Beasts [Orange Walk Belize]

Throughout the course of this most recent stage of their historical battle, Tetsuya seemed to be relying primarily on getting well-timed strikes through the barrage coming from his monstrous opponent. However, it wasn't ever quite that simple when fighting Zaraki Kenpachi. When it came to direct one-on-one combat, one aspect of the Shinigami that was regularly ignored or glazed over by opponents was his actual swordsmanship skill. Sure his raw physical strength rocked his opponents to their core, and the ferocity with which he fought was terrifying to practically anyone, but what allowed both of these traits to truly shine in battle was his skill with the blade. Deflections, parries, fancy martial arts; none of that mattered against Zaraki. Even as a child his raw skill allowed him to fight even Gotei Captains on even footing. Now, after all these centuries later, his swordsmanship had become more practiced and refined through battle. Less skilled swordsmen, at their best, would be lucky even to nick the battle-hardened warrior. For this reason this fight would continue to not go according to plan for the Monsuta commander.

For every sword strike and counter Tetsuya managed to conjure up, Zaraki replied in kind more fiercely and skillfully. Anyone who had observed Tetsuya fight would be hard pressed to say anything other than compliments when it came to his masterful, artful swordsmanship. But it still wasn't enough. Arguably the most skilled swordsman in Soul Society, Zaraki Kenpachi was not struggling to match his opponent's blows from a prowess perspective. In fact, even at this point as Tetsuya continued to hollowfy and become a more fearsome combatant, Zaraki was able to stay on the offensive. Every time their blades connected a shock wave exploded outward, creating winds strong enough to tear through wood and metal alike. There was no hint of reservation or holding back in Kenpachi, his beastly spiritual force roaring like a rupturing volcano of killing intent.

It didn't take long for their current clash to reach its climax. At the end of a series of particularly strong blows, Tetsuya attempted to strike Zaraki down with a single extra powerful attack meant to at least send him reeling a bit. However, the Vizard miscalculated. There would be no pushing Zaraki back. Instead, he countered the attack with his own Zanpakutou and fully absorbed the force of his foe's swing into his body. While lesser individuals would be disoriented by such a dangerous hit from someone like Tetsuya, Zaraki's world class durability and ability to shrug off pain like dirt from his shoulder meant he merely ignored any damage he could've taken. In a fraction of a second Zaraki's left hand shot up and grabbed the wrist of Tetsuya's sword arm, pulled the man's hand to the side, and swung his own blade downward across his torso. This move, extremely reminiscent of when he nearly cut Nnoitra Gilga in half all those years ago, would be able to slice cleanly through Hollow defenses, Shikai-related defenses, skin, and bone as if they were little more than paper.

With his foe either bleeding profusely from a severe, potentially mortal, wound or having just barely survived, Zaraki quickly attempted to launch his victim into the partially standing remains of a nearby fallen building. Once again he rested his chipped and worn down Zanpakutou across his right shoulder, still clearly seeing this life-or-death battle as fun. Suddenly Zaraki's gruff, but clear, voice rang out across the battlefield. "If you don't use your Bankai soon you'll die. Stop holding back or I'll get bored."

Why does this always happen..." Zaraki Kenpachi's thoughts were both sad and disappointed. People who met the man could rarely believe it was even possible for him to feel the former emotion, yet it did occasionally happen. The cause was usually quite specific and seemingly always what led to it. Meanwhile the latter was usually merely a result of unsatisfactory fights. In this specific circumstance, these two causes were directly related. In fact, there was only one cause. Usually Zaraki Kenpachi knew better and did his best to prevent such a disastrous event from even taking place, but unfortunately this time it didn't occur to him in time. While locked in an extremely close range struggle, his foe Tetsuya Tachibana had created and used an explosive energy attack known as Cero. This blast struck its target directly, his hands already preoccupied and as such unable to protect the one thing on him worth protecting.

The explosive force of the Vizard's energy attack was not enough to cause moderate or severe damage to Zaraki, in fact due to its nature as a basic move it barely did anything at all to the man known for his legendary durability. Yet, something was destroyed. A clothing accessory. The very millisecond Zaraki's eye patch was incinerated, it was as if the world itself began to fall apart at the seams. With his infamous eye patch no longer keeping his full and unadulterated power in check, an explosion comparable to an atomic bomb blasted outward, his body at its epicenter. This world-shaking pressure burst forth with enough power to send Tetsuya flying despite what could end up being his best efforts. The terrain itself was eviscerated as buildings and Orange Walk's ruins were vaporized. The oceanic spiritual pressure radiating from Zaraki Kenpachi could be felt from hundreds of kilometers away as a hundred fifty meter tall pillar of energy formed around the Shinigami, reaching into the sky above. And like that, it was gone.

What may have seemed like minutes and hours to onlookers, or even Tetsuya himself, was barely more than a few seconds. The initial explosion passed, revealing a frowning and unharmed Zaraki Kenpachi standing in its midst. With yellow Reiatsu covering his body as an aura, the Shinigami shook his head and yelled to his opponent, whatever his current location was. "Fun's over. You shouldn't have destroyed my eye patch, it lets me enjoy fights." As he spoke Zaraki rubbed the back of his neck before cracking it twice, rotating his sword arm at the same time. "I'm out of shape." Though this seemed like a joke, Zaraki was entirely serious as he said it. It was true, it had been a while since he'd fought at full power. To him, it did feel that way. For now.

Immediately after declaring his disappointment, Zaraki Kenpachi shot forward with all the might and speed he could muster which had the added effect of creating a miniature explosion where he'd just been. In a flash Zaraki was within sword's reach of Tetsuya, and in the same second his right arm swung down. The earth-splitting power behind his attack could cleave through solid matter as if it were air. Regardless of what happened to Tetsuya's body, the ground beneath him would rumble from the sheer force as a gaping chasm would open behind the man. Though his prior attacks repeatedly put each other to shame, comparing any of them to this one would be difficult to say the least. Kenpachi followed up with a bone-breaking kick to the Monsuta commander's chest, potentially sending him flying again if it found its target. Each attack sent out a shockwave, crippling their surroundings even further. It was a good thing Orange Walk had been evacuated.