I AM THE EDGE

Spotting her captain on the ruined roof, Yachiru whispers his name, and Kenpachi drops down beside her. When Isane fearfully asks after Unohana, he answers flatly that he killed her and offers Isane the chance to avenge her captain. Instead she breaks down in relief, understanding that his victory means he has inherited the mantle of Kenpachi, which he confirms.

Delighted to recognize the captain, Gremmy raises the whole building on a thicket of pillars that harden into a vast stone fortress, forcing Isane to dive after Rose and Kensei as they tumble from their beds. He calls it a proper stage for the man he considers the strongest of foes, insisting it is no spell or illusion but plain reality, and names himself the true Sternritter "V".

Kenpachi charges and brings his sword down, only for it to stall at Gremmy's shoulder against flesh the Quincy has imagined tougher than steel. A beat later Kenpachi carves clean through him anyway, dropping Gremmy to one knee in a spreading pool of blood. He scolds Gremmy for hiding that detail, since he would simply have swung hard enough from the start, and reads the shock on the Quincy's face as proof he never believed he could be cut. Nothing imagination can conjure, Kenpachi declares, lies beyond his blade, because he is the Kenpachi.

Kenpachi confirms to Isane that he defeated and killed Retsu Unohana, thereby inheriting the Kenpachi title. Gremmy reshapes the building into a stone fortress arena and names himself the strongest Sternritter. Kenpachi cuts through Gremmy's imagined steel-hard body, wounding him and declaring that nothing Gremmy can imagine is beyond his blade.

Part of Volume 64, DEATH IN VISION, cover character Gremmy Thoumeaux. The chapter was adapted in Episode 386, I AM THE EDGE. It follows The Blaster and leads into DEATH IN VISION.