"Kill you?"
"Heh, you think too highly of yourself. Do you think that if I really wanted to kill you, I would need to come personally?"
Toshiro scoffed.
Seeing Toshiro's dismissive attitude, Shusuke couldn't help but retort angrily, "Hmph! In terms of strength, of course I'm no match for you. But do you think I would dare to return to the Soul Society to take revenge on Yamamoto without some backing?"
"Backing?"
Toshiro remained unfazed.
Toshiro naturally knew what Shusuke's backing was… the Bakkoto.
In the original anime plot, Shusuke's Bakkoto could seal the power of a Shinigami's Zanpakuto, even sealing Yamamoto's Ryujin Jakka.
But Toshiro thought things weren't that simple. Toshiro could sense that Shusuke's true strength was only at the mid-Captain-level. Even with the amplification of the Bakkoto, he would at most be at the late-Captain-level.
But Yamamoto existed at the peak of Shinigami. Honestly, the strength gap between Yamamoto and Shusuke was like dragon and ant.
So, could the Bakkoto alone really seal the power of Yamamoto's Zanpakuto? Remember, when the Reiatsu gap between Shinigami is too great, neither Zanpakuto abilities nor any other means can work.
Just like Sui-Feng's Two-Hit Kills, which claims that hitting the same spot twice means certain death.
However, embarrassingly, in the final battle with Aizen, faced with Sui-Feng's Two-Hit Kills, Aizen didn't even dodge, took the two hits head-on, and nothing happened.
So, no matter how overpowered an ability is, if the gap between the user and the enemy is too large, it is fundamentally useless.
Therefore, Toshiro always felt it was very unreliable that the Bakkoto could seal Yamamoto's Ryujin Jakka.
And even if Yamamoto was caught off guard and the Bakkoto's power worked, Toshiro believed that with his power, he could easily break free from the Bakkoto's seal.
In the anime plot, the reason Yamamoto didn't do this was probably because he vaguely sensed Shusuke's identity.
After all, Shusuke was the son of Yamamoto's disciple, Kisaragi Shin'etsu. It was impossible for Yamamoto not to know that his disciple had a son.
Toshiro even speculated that after Shin'etsu died, Yamamoto probably sent people to look for his son to take care of him.
But Shusuke mistakenly believed Yamamoto was the true murderer of his father, so he fled beforehand, changed his name, and devoted himself to revenge.
And even if Toshiro was wrong, and Shusuke's Bakkoto really could seal the Zanpakuto of a strong one at Yamamoto's level, it still wouldn't matter.
For strong ones at Toshiro and Yamamoto's level, even if their Zanpakuto's power was sealed, dealing with ordinary Captain-level enemies would still be easy.
Not to mention anything else, Toshiro could sense that his own physical strength had reached a very terrifying level. An ordinary Captain-level going all out couldn't even break through his bodily defense.
Add to that his mastery of Zanjutsu, Hakuda, Shunpo, and Kido… defeating an ordinary Captain-level would be trivially easy.
Remember how Ichigo's full-power Bankai strike was easily blocked by Aizen with just one finger? Toshiro was certain that Aizen hadn't even released his Zanpakuto at that time.
So, in summary, regardless of whether the Bakkoto could seal their power, someone like Shusuke, whose strength wasn't too great among Captain-level fighters, could not possibly contend with the peak existences like Toshiro and Yamamoto.
"Amagai, you simply don't understand. There are differences between Captain-level fighters. Someone like you, no matter what means you use, cannot possibly be a match for me or Captain-Commander Yamamoto."
Toshiro stated this iron fact calmly.
Shusuke retorted angrily, "How do you know! Do you know how much hardship I've endured to take revenge on that old man Yamamoto! How desperately I've trained! How much time I've prepared!"
"I'm telling you! Although my strength indeed can't compare to yours, in the end, I will be the one to win!"
Shusuke shouted angrily, unwilling to believe, or perhaps refusing to believe, that he couldn't kill Yamamoto and avenge his father.
Seeing Shusuke's somewhat frenzied state, Toshiro couldn't help but frown: "Calm down, Amagai. Whether or not you have the ability to take revenge on Captain-Commander Yamamoto isn't important. What's important is that you're mistaken. Captain-Commander Yamamoto is fundamentally not..."
"Shut up!"
Just as Toshiro was about to explain to Shusuke that Yamamoto wasn't his father's murderer, Shusuke directly interrupted him.
Shusuke looked determined and said, "Come on! Although it's a pity that my plan was exposed before I could even implement it, since things have come to this, it's either you or me."
"So say no more. Either I kill you first and then go after Yamamoto for revenge, or I die at your hands. Those are the only two outcomes."
Clang!
Saying this, Shusuke immediately drew his sword against Toshiro.
"Come on! Let's fight to the death here and now!"
Shusuke said with a look of tragic resolve.
Toshiro said helplessly, "Can you let me finish speaking?"
"Hmph! Useless questions are useless! No way!"
Shusuke snorted coldly.
Toshiro was covered in black lines, 'This guy won't even let me talk...'
For a moment, Toshiro could somewhat understand why protagonists in anime only started giving speeches after beating the enemy.
If you can't beat them down first, who's going to listen to you ramble?
"Yare yare, there's no helping it. I'll play with you for a bit. Consider it digestion after the meal."
Toshiro said very helplessly.
"Come with me, Amagai."
Toshiro suddenly turned and started to walk out.
"Wha-? What do you mean?"
Shusuke was stunned for a moment.
"I mean, let's go. You don't want to fight here, do you?"
Toshiro retorted.
The two had just finished eating and were still in the restaurant. If they fought here, who knows how many people would be affected. But Toshiro knew Shusuke wasn't an irredeemably evil person, so he probably wouldn't object to moving elsewhere.
"Hmph, how do I know you're not trying to lure me into an ambush to deal with me?"
Shusuke said vigilantly.
Toshiro scoffed, "Heh, an ambush? You think too highly of yourself. If I needed an ambush to deal with you, I might as well resign as Vice-Captain-Commander."
"Besides, if I wanted to ambush you, I would have done it long ago. Why would I bother inviting you to dinner and wasting so many words?"
"Let's go. I'll take you to the 3rd Division. As the new Captain taking office, showing off your strength to your subordinates can help you take control of the division better. So let's fight publicly this time. It kills two birds with one stone. Moreover..."
"I won't release my Zanpakuto during the fight. If you can so much as scratch me, you win. And I won't stop you from taking revenge on Captain-Commander Yamamoto."
"But if you lose even under these conditions, then give up on revenge completely and listen to me explain your father's situation properly. How about that?"
"Remember, my strength is about the same as Captain-Commander Yamamoto's. If you can't even win against me like this, then don't even think about taking revenge on him."
After hearing Toshiro's words, Shusuke hesitated for a moment but still agreed.
Just as Toshiro said, if he wanted to ambush him, he would have had many opportunities long ago. There was no need to specifically trick him.
Moreover, Toshiro had agreed not to use his Zanpakuto in the fight, which suited him perfectly. If Toshiro could defeat him without even releasing his Zanpakuto, then he indeed had no hope of killing Yamamoto, who was on the same level as Toshiro, to avenge his father.
Because Shusuke's greatest reliance was his Bakkoto, and its function was to seal the power of other Shinigami's Zanpakuto. But if the other Shinigami didn't even release their Zanpakuto, then the Bakkoto naturally had no use.
"Alright then. Let's have a good match at the 3rd Division. Let me see your strength."
Shusuke didn't believe that, with all his means, he couldn't even defeat Toshiro when he wasn't using his Zanpakuto.