Kenpachi Zaraki vs. Gremmy Thoumeaux is a fight taking place during the second invasion of the Quincy Blood War, focusing on the conflict between 11th Division Captain Kenpachi Zaraki and Sternritter "V" Gremmy Thoumeaux after the former finally gains access to his Shikai.
Prelude[]
Gremmy Thoumeaux obliterates his creation, Guenael Lee, for failing in battle.
While 11th Division Lieutenant Yachiru Kusajishi is battling his creation, Guenael Lee, Sternritter "V" Gremmy Thoumeaux sneaks behind 4th Division Lieutenant Isane Kotetsu's barrier to kill the unconscious 3rd Division Captain Rōjūrō Ōtoribashi and 9th Division Captain Kensei Muguruma before brutally dispatching Guenael himself when the latter fails to live up to his standards. Seconds later, Yachiru attacks him with Sanpo Kenjū, but Gremmy merely grabs her arm and twists it, instantly breaking the bones and forcing her to drop her Zanpakutō.[2]
Kenpachi Zaraki interrupts Gremmy after sensing Yachiru Kusajishi's shaky Reiatsu.
As Yachiru looks down at her arm in confusion, Gremmy informs her that the bones in her arm are now made of cookies, which would of course break, and predicts that her next thought will be that the rest of her bones are as well. With Yachiru collapsing and realizing that her other arm has also crumpled, Gremmy asserts that imagination is the most powerful force in this world and reveals that everything he imagines becomes reality, leaving Yachiru terrified. Suddenly, the ceiling of the roof caves in while 11th Division Captain Kenpachi Zaraki expresses his confusion at finding a brat when he came looking for Yachiru.[3]
Gremmy creates a massive stone fortress for himself and Kenpachi to fight on, which forces Isane to leave with Kensei and Rose.
Upon seeing Kenpachi, Yachiru murmurs his name, prompting Kenpachi to leap down into the room. When Isane nervously asks him about the fate of her captain, Retsu Unohana, Kenpachi bluntly states that she is dead and he killed her, which means Isane can kill him for doing so if she wants. After collapsing upon hearing this, a tearful Isane instead expresses relief at this because it means Kenpachi has succeeded her title, which he confirms. Nearby, Gremmy infers Kenpachi's identity and praises his strength being just as imagined before raising up the room and building with dozens of pillars, causing Kensei and Rose to fall off their beds toward the ground below and forcing Isane to leap after and catch them.[4]
Battle[]
Gremmy hardens his body past the durability of steel to stop Kenpachi's slash.
Once the pillars settle and coalesce into a massive stone fort, Gremmy announces that he has set the stage for Kenpachi since he wanted to welcome the latter and his legendary strength properly. When Kenpachi questions if this is some kind of spell, Gremmy denies it being that or an illusion because it is just reality and introduces himself as the real Sternritter "V" before asserting that it is lucky for Kenpachi to fight him since he believes himself to be the strongest Sternritter. In response, Kenpachi rushes forward and brings his Zanpakutō down on Gremmy, only for the blade to stop at Gremmy's shoulder without piercing it. However, with Gremmy reminding Kenpachi that he can turn fantasy into reality and explaining that he has envisioned his body being stronger than steel, Kenpachi suddenly slashes Gremmy down the length of his body from his shoulder.[5]
Kenpachi declares that his title means he can cut anything Gremmy creates.
With Gremmy falling to one knee and blood pooling from his wound, Kenpachi berates him for not mentioning his body's toughness earlier since Kenpachi would have simply attacked with enough force to cut through steel from the start, and upon noticing Gremmy's expression, Kenpachi infers that he did not believe he could be cut before declaring that there is nothing Gremmy's imagination can produce which he cannot cut because he is the Kenpachi.[6] On the ground below the fort, several members of the Eleventh Division look on in disbelief and wonder what is happening, only for one of them to realize that the Reiatsu emanating from the top is that of Kenpachi.[7]
Gremmy instantly heals his injury by imagining that he had already fully recovered from it.
While the Shinigami rejoice and proclaim that this war can be won now, atop the fort, Kenpachi comments on how noisy they are being, though Gremmy assures him that it is fine because the Shinigami are free to imagine that Kenpachi's presence means they can win the war. However, Kenpachi sees that Gremmy's body is completely unharmed and infers that Gremmy can heal himself, though Gremmy clarifies that he instead imagined that his body had already fully recovered from the sword wound, to Kenpachi's surprise. Back on the ground, one of the Shinigami wonders why none of the Shinigami noticed Kenpachi's Reiatsu until the fort was created.[8]
Gremmy generates lava to attack Kenpachi with after promising not to lift a single finger.
Meanwhile, Gremmy assumes that this power sounds like a bad joke to Kenpachi because people like him cannot understand it until they lose, and as he beckons Kenpachi to attack him, Gremmy promises to not even use a single finger to defeat him before vowing to win using only what is inside his head while lava surges around him, which he explains came from inside his head. Though he calls Gremmy's powers ridiculous, Kenpachi admits that he does not mind fighting against something beyond reason and slashes through the lava when it approaches him, sending it flying in thin streams that splash onto the ground around Yachiru.[9]
Kenpachi is trapped in water as Gremmy opens a crevice underneath him.
When Kenpachi orders Yachiru to take cover, Gremmy tells him to not be so hard on her since every bone in her body is currently made of cookies, and when Kenpachi expresses confusion at the term, Gremmy realizes that he should have used rakugan instead, which Kenpachi recognizes prior to berating Gremmy for not mentioning this earlier and leaping into the air to attack him. Suddenly, Kenpachi finds himself floating within a cube of water suspended in the air above Gremmy, who comments on how absurd it is that the air Kenpachi jumped up into was already underwater. After opening a large crevice in the ground, Gremmy has the water cube and Kenpachi slam down into the crevice as well before sealing the latter shut and noting that while Kenpachi will not die from being crushed, everybody eventually dies if they cannot breathe, which means he will die a slow painful death while trapped by water and earth, something that only take an hour at most no matter what kind of monster he is.[10]
Kenpachi bursts out of the crevice after retrieving Yachiru, whose bones are normal again.
However, Kenpachi bursts out of the ground with Yachiru under his arm and slashes at Gremmy, who creates a thick metal bar in front of himself to block the blade. Observing that Yachiru's bones have returned to normal, Kenpachi theorizes that Gremmy was too focused on defeating him to maintain his alteration of Yachiru's body.[11] With Kenpachi's Zanpakutō cutting through the metal bar and destroying a large chunk of the stone fort, he lets Yachiru hop down from his arm and notes that Isane is still nearby. Once Kenpachi tells her to go down and get her arm fixed, Yachiru happily complies with this and leaps off the side of the fort.[12]
Kenpachi suggests that Gremmy should want to crush him if he is truly the strongest Quincy.
As Yachiru speeds toward the ground below, Gremmy is left to express surprise at Kenpachi noticing that his imagination for Yachiru had been interrupted. Affirming that there was no way that Gremmy could keep it going, Kenpachi asks Gremmy if he intends to fight here, and when Gremmy expresses confusion at this, Kenpachi brings up him calling himself the strongest Quincy and proposes that he should want to crush the strongest opponent if this is true, to Gremmy's shock, prior to inviting him to start the battle and claiming that he cannot call it a fight if he is distracted by someone other than his opponent.[13]
Realizing that he does want to crush Kenpachi, Gremmy summons dozens of assault rifles to open fire on him.
Kenpachi rushes toward Gremmy, who projects horizontal pillars of stone toward him in turn. While Kenpachi crashes into and smashes through the dozens of pillars emerging from the ground, Gremmy ruminates on his words and mentally admits that he never considered this because no one ever tried to challenge him due to how obviously superior his power was, preventing him from ever wanting to crush anyone since there was no need to prove his power by killing someone. Despite this and with Kenpachi bearing down on him after breaking through the last of the pillars, Gremmy grins with malicious glee and realizes that he indeed wants to obliterate Kenpachi prior to summoning dozens of assault rifles around himself and opening fire on Kenpachi.[14]
Gremmy finds himself ecstatic at the idea of battling Kenpachi and wonders what this sensation is.
With several missiles joining the bombardment and engulfing the top of the fort in explosions, the last of them is cut in half and explodes, forcing Gremmy to shield himself with his arms, before it can reach Kenpachi, who stands with slight scuffs across his body and notes that Gremmy used his fingers after all. Calling Gremmy's joyful expression a good look, Kenpachi states that his Zanpakutō is finally going to have some fun[15] as Gremmy internally admits that he does not know what his expression is or if it looks good, only to gleefully wonder why he feels so good right now as Kenpachi rushes forward and renews his assault.[16]
Gremmy creates a giant stone hand above Kenpachi while the latter's Zanpakutō is stuck in him.
Though Gremmy creates a dome around himself comprised of triangular metal plates that sprout blades between them, Kenpachi cuts through and destroys it with ease. However, when Kenpachi embeds his blade deep within Gremmy's body with the same slash and berates the latter for this since he can easily cut through steel, he finds himself unable to pull his Zanpakutō out of Gremmy just before a gigantic stone hand with its fingers splayed out slams down onto him palm-first. After Gremmy criticizes this since cutting him does not mean anything, Kenpachi slashes up through the stone hand and across a startled Gremmy's chest as he rises into the air.[17]
Kenpachi unknowingly takes advantage of Gremmy's lapse of concentration to grievously injure him with another slash.
With Gremmy realizing that his momentary lapse of concentration will leave him late to heal and open to Kenpachi's next attack, Kenpachi comes down and slashes him diagonally again. Left heavily bleeding and in disbelief by this, Gremmy internally questions why he cannot stop Kenpachi's blade and considers the possibility of losing to him, which he repeatedly and vehemently denies being possible. Upon noticing Gremmy's state and feeling less resistance to his attacks, Kenpachi stops his assault and asks Gremmy if he just envisioned himself losing, which causes Gremmy to realize what is happening and heal his wounds before thanking a confused Kenpachi for helping him wipe away all thoughts of death and ensuring he can no longer die.[18]
Gremmy creates a clone of himself and uses the doubled power of The Visionary to summon a meteor.
Though Kenpachi rejects the idea that he will regret this, Gremmy decides to create a clone of himself, to Kenpachi's surprise. With Gremmy promising to show Kenpachi his greatest power as a way of repaying him, Kenpachi inquires about whether this is an illusion, but Gremmy clarifies that he can create life itself with his imagination, and when Kenpachi attacks the original Gremmy, he blocks the slash with his arms without being harmed, gets up from the ground, and asserts that neither of him can be harmed or killed while the power of his imagination simply doubles as a massive meteor appears several miles above the city. In response to Kenpachi's puzzlement, Gremmy reveals that this will obliterate both him and the Seireitei, leaving only Gremmy himself alive. Despite this, Kenpachi simply notes that he has never cut a meteor before and comments to Nozarashi on how exciting this is.[19] With observers around the replaced Seireitei panicking at the sight of this, Gremmy brings up the hypothetical scenario of Kenpachi killing him, which he specifically avoids imagining, and reveals that the meteor would not disappear even if this happened.[20]
Kenpachi releases his Shikai, Nozarashi, and destroys the meteor with a single swing.
However, even with Gremmy claiming that the only outcome is himself being left alive after the meteor lands and kills everyone else, which he calls a hopeless situation, Kenpachi merely looks up at the meteor with unrestrained glee, counters that Gremmy is the one who cannot do anything about this, and launches himself into the air toward the meteor before releasing his Shikai, Nozarashi. Down on the ground, Yachiru watches this and recalls meeting Kenpachi for the first time as an infant, where Kenpachi saw that she was not afraid of his sword and realized that she had no name just like him. Up above, Kenpachi cuts completely through the center of the meteor, splitting it in half and causing the two halves to explode outward into thousands of small chunks that rain down across the Seireitei, forcing Gremmy to shield himself. In the air above Gremmy, Kenpachi stands with Nozarashi resting on his shoulder.[21]
Multiple clones of Gremmy create a pocket of outer space around Kenpachi to kill him with something he cannot cut.
As he watches chunks of the destroyed meteor crash into the replaced Seireitei, a shaken Gremmy expresses disbelief at Kenpachi destroying it in one strike and calls him a monster, only for Kenpachi to remind Gremmy that there is simply nothing he cannot cut while standing in the air with Nozarashi. In turn, Gremmy merely smiles and admits that this is simple before creating several more clones of himself around Kenpachi . Though Kenpachi asserts that cloning himself will not even the odds, Gremmy and his clones proclaim that they will just have to kill Kenpachi with something without form before creating a pocket of outer space around him. Surrounded by space, Kenpachi screams in agony while his blood boils and his bodily fluids evaporate from his eyes and mouth as one of Gremmy's clones details this, as well as his lungs collapsing if he tries to breathe, and concludes that his bodily tissues will soon collapse from the pressure, leaving him to die a painful death if he even manages to remain conscious until that point.[22]
The Gremmy clones turn themselves into bombs and prepare to detonate.
Suddenly, the Gremmy clone finds Nozarashi nearly cutting him in half at the waist and sees Kenpachi pulling himself out of the pocket of space by grabbing the edge with his hand as the latter observes that Gremmy forgot to harden his body. However, when Kenpachi cuts him in half, the Gremmy clone's upper body sprouts a large bomb on its chest. Gaining identical bombs on their own chests, the remaining clones grab onto Kenpachi and detonate in unison, creating a massive explosion above the fort while Gremmy lands on it and pants heavily. Despite this, Kenpachi emerges from the cloud of smoke with only moderate burns and his haori destroyed.[23]
Gremmy's body tears itself apart as he tries to become stronger than Kenpachi.
Stunned by this, Gremmy calls Kenpachi a true monster and proclaims that he will simply have to make himself more powerful than Kenpachi is. Leaping into the air toward Kenpachi, Gremmy begins increasing the muscle mass of his body and mentally insists that he wants to win for the first time in his life, which is why he will prove himself to Kenpachi. Before he can reach Kenpachi, though, Gremmy's muscular body begins fracturing and pulling itself apart from the strain, causing him to fall out of the air and away from Kenpachi, who deduces that Gremmy envisioned him as too strong to ever overcome and killed himself trying to surpass a standard he considered impossible to overcome, which he calls foolish.[24]
Aftermath[]
A dying Gremmy's body bursts open, revealing his true form as a brain in a case, and begins to disintegrate into Reishi.
Moments later, on the ground below, Gremmy lies on a chunk of rubble and wonders if he was killed by his own imagination, only to deny this as Kenpachi lands on his pooling blood and assert that his imagination was correct because that he accurately envisioned Kenpachi's power, which made it too correct. Gremmy clarifies that he was killed because he failed to understand that only Kenpachi's body can withstand his power rather than by his own imagination and begins to declare that his power of imagination did not lose to Kenpachi, but realizes that this is an excuse and stops himself before admitting that he strongly wanted to win while a brain in a case bursts out of his body, which begins to disintegrate into Reishi, and lands nearby. With Kenpachi bewildered by this, Gremmy reiterates his promise to kill Kenpachi without raising a single finger and reveals that even his own body is one of his creations, meaning that he kept his promise.[25]
Gremmy admits that he is scared of a world where he will not be able to envision anything as he dies.
After admitting he is the one who died anyway, Gremmy observes his imagination is at its limit and notes it is going to be scary to envision the world where he can no longer imagine anything prior to completely disappearing, leaving only his brain and a somber Kenpachi looking on. Nearby, the stone fort that Gremmy created in the wake of his death, which Kenpachi's subordinates observe alongside the vibration of their Reiatsu stopping before celebrating Kenpachi's victory and rushing to join him now that he will not get mad at them for getting in the way. As he looks down at Gremmy's inert brain, Kenpachi observes both the stage Gremmy created and the puddle of blood he left behind are gone without a trace, leaving only his brain in the capsule.[26]
Kenpachi discovers Yachiru's shihakushō and lieutenant's badge lying on the ground.
Coughing up blood, Kenpachi deduces that his internal organs were damaged during the fight. After lamenting how he can barely hear anything because of the explosion, Kenpachi walks through the rubble and calls out for Yachiru, but is visibly nonplussed when he ends up stepping on her shihakushō and lieutenant's badge, which are now lying empty and unworn on the ground. From behind him, Kenpachi's subordinates approach and rejoice at his victory, and when Kenpachi asks them if they have seen Yachiru, the Shinigami admit that they have not and suggest that she may have run off again, only for Kenpachi to demand that they find her.[27]
Kenpachi attacks Candice Catnipp after she fries many of his subordinates upon arriving with the other Bambies.
Suddenly, while the Shinigami run off in search of Yachiru behind a pensive Kenpachi, they are blasted by a large bolt of lightning from Sternritter "T" Candice Catnipp, startling Kenpachi, as she celebrates taking out the Shinigami in one attack and arrives alongside Sternritter "G" Liltotto Lamperd, Sternritter "P" Meninas McAllon, and Sternritter "Z" Giselle Gewelle.[28] Having been fried by the lightning, several of Kenpachi's subordinates call out to him before collapsing, leaving their comrades to cradle their corpses and curse at Candice. With the Shinigami demanding that the four Sternritter come down and fight them even if they are women, Giselle mocks Candice for barely killing any of them since many are getting back up, and as a flustered Candice prepares to blast them again, Kenpachi reappears in the air behind a startled Candice with Shunpo and slashes at her.[29]
Liltotto bites off and consumes the top halves of several Shinigami when they confront her.
Forced to evade behind Kenpachi, Candice engulfs him in a surge of lightning between her hands. As Kenpachi begins to fall, Meninas punches him hard, sending him crashing into the ground with enough force to crater it, and a startled Candice admits that this was close while wondering how Kenpachi can still move after fighting Gremmy. The remaining Shinigami begin to rally to protect Kenpachi, but Liltotto lands before them and asserts that them exploiting his condition is a reasonable action to take since they are fighting Kenpachi, a Special War Power. When the Shinigami attempt to attack her and demand that she leave, Liltotto promises that they will be rid of her soon enough and forms a large mouth that bites off the top halves of several Shinigami at once, continuing to eat more as she laments that she is still so hungry and does not even find them tasty.[30]
Meninas McAllon prepares to drop a large building on the Shinigami from high above.
When Kenpachi attempts to warn his subordinates to stop, an annoyed Candice blasts him with another massive bolt of lightning to get him to stop moving, and with more of the Shinigami running over to him, Meninas appears above them with a large building held in one hand and crushes them with it while claiming they cannot go that way because it is pointless for them to rush to the aid of a captain who is about to die. Simultaneously, Giselle is confronted by several more Shinigami and points out they should be helping Kenpachi rather than attacking her, though the Shinigami counter that she must be trying to kill them with her Schrift.[31]
An explosion occurs in the air above the Bambies.
Giselle promises them that she does not have that kind of combat capability and that nothing good will come of killing her, but one of the Shinigami steps forward and slashes her diagonally across the chest, leaving a large gash in her left shoulder. However, as her blood splashes across the assembled Shinigami, an unfazed Giselle makes note of this and straightens up with her arm still hanging off her body while revealing that those touched by her blood will become corpses that only follow her commands. Giselle has the assembled Shinigami kill themselves with their Zanpakutō before the four Bambies assemble around an incapacitated Kenpachi, who internally realizes that he cannot move and wonders if this is it for him. Suddenly, while Giselle observes that Kenpachi is barely breathing, Liltotto questions who is going to finish him off, Meninas suggests that they play a variant of rock-paper-scissors with only rock and paper where rock wins, and an aggravated Candice points out that everyone will choose rock if that is how it works, the four of them are alarmed by an explosion occurring in the sky above them.[32]
References[]
- ↑ Bleach manga; Chapter 536, page 16
- ↑ Bleach manga; Chapter 572, pages 7-13
- ↑ Bleach manga; Chapter 572, pages 13-17
- ↑ Bleach manga; Chapter 573, pages 2-10
- ↑ Bleach manga; Chapter 573, pages 10-15
- ↑ Bleach manga; Chapter 573, pages 15-18
- ↑ Bleach manga; Chapter 574, pages 1-2
- ↑ Bleach manga; Chapter 574, pages 3-6
- ↑ Bleach manga; Chapter 574, pages 6-10
- ↑ Bleach manga; Chapter 574, pages 10-14
- ↑ Bleach manga; Chapter 574, pages 15-17
- ↑ Bleach manga; Chapter 575, pages 1 & 5-6
- ↑ Bleach manga; Chapter 575, pages 6-8
- ↑ Bleach manga; Chapter 575, pages 10-15
- ↑ Bleach manga; Chapter 575, pages 15-17
- ↑ Bleach manga; Chapter 576, pages 2-4
- ↑ Bleach manga; Chapter 576, pages 4-9
- ↑ Bleach manga; Chapter 576, pages 9-13
- ↑ Bleach manga; Chapter 576, pages 13-18
- ↑ Bleach manga; Chapter 577, pages 1-6
- ↑ Bleach manga; Chapter 577, pages 7-17
- ↑ Bleach manga; Chapter 578, pages 1-8
- ↑ Bleach manga; Chapter 578, pages 9-13
- ↑ Bleach manga; Chapter 578, pages 13-17
- ↑ Bleach manga; Chapter 579, pages 1-7
- ↑ Bleach manga; Chapter 579, pages 7-11
- ↑ Bleach manga; Chapter 579, pages 12-14
- ↑ Bleach manga; Chapter 579, pages 15-17
- ↑ Bleach manga; Chapter 580, pages 1-3
- ↑ Bleach manga; Chapter 580, pages 3-9
- ↑ Bleach manga; Chapter 580, pages 9-12
- ↑ Bleach manga; Chapter 580, pages 12-17