Hayate stood out in the middle of the Grand Arena of Soul Society; a fighting space reserved for the highest echelons of the Gotei to sort out their various disputes. Many of the Shinigami who would go on to be named Kenpachi would have earned their title here, so Hayate figured it was the right place. Even so, he was surrounded on all sides by the auditorium and the various souls who had come to see two Shinigami fight to the death. The challenge had been something of a surprise to the Gotei at large. For the moment he simply had to wait, his opponent was nowhere to be seen just yet but he was certain it wouldn’t be long.

Fortunately, he wasn’t disappointed. Shinsuke strode in confidently through the arena gates opposite his Vice Captain with his usual prideful sneer. “You really think you’ve got a chance?” His voice could hardly be heard by the murmuring crowd, but he spoke nonetheless “Try and give these people a show Hayate, I think you’ve got one final lesson to teach them.” He hefted Onimaru from its sheath on his back, taking his place opposite the upstart who dare lay claim to his title.  

The Vice-Captain scowled and drew his zanpakuto, pointing the blunted point of the wooden weapon at his foe. “Yeah yeah, keep talkin’. See how long that lasts.” As if to put a point on his disinterest in talking, the spiritual pressure began to build in arcs of lightning to stretch out to the ground around him.

The conflict was at a fever pitch, ready to boil over into full blown combat the moment someone gave the go ahead to begin the official proceedings. All he had to do now was wait.

--

Jinnosuke had taken his seat away from the other members of the Moriyama clan, opting to avoid having to deal with his older brothers and get a good look at the action. If everything went well then this would be a good fight, and maybe they’d be rid of another of the less savoury members of his family. It was hard to tell if Vice-Captain Yoshida might be able to pull this off, but he could only hope for the best. As bad as he felt wishing death upon his own blood.

Ika appeared in the front row of the crowd somewhat haphazardly toying with a lit cigarette in his right hand. He didn't have much reason to be nervous, he knew the score between these two and knew full well that Hayate would be more than capable of prying the troublesome Moriyama's life from it's mortal coil, but for some reason this didn't seem to make him any less nervous about the proceedings. Perhaps it was just the prospect of watching his friend partake in a true to life death match, perhaps it was the murmurs of the disbelieving crowd instilling him with some small level of doubt, whatever it was he wanted to see it over with.

And that, was what the cigarette was for. Ika placed it between his lips, taking a slow drag off of it's contents as he glanced out over the spectators to find a young Moriyama boy to harass. One he'd had his eyes on for a while to this point. Ika would walk over, smirking a bit as he turned to the field of battle once more. "Might wanna be on guard Jinno, if Shinsuke is defeated you'll need to try and fetch his blade before someone else does."

Sitting in a portion of the stands that got a great view of what was going on, close to the gaggle of Moriyamas but separate enough from them that he didn't have to interact with the underhanded, backstabbing fools was Okami Shiba, current Head of the Shiba Clan and Captain of the Eighth Division. His eyes were briefly on Ika interacting with his Lieutenant nearby, smirking slightly as the man mentioned one of those old Moriyama Clan traditions before tuning back in to the activity down below.

It seemed that Shinsuke had arrived, and the current Kenpachi was as cocky as ever. His Lieutenant, however, seemed to wish to just get along with his day. The tension in the air was palpable, and it was clear that the violence was about to start soon. Things were about to snap, however, and blood was going to spill soon.

Let the games begin.

Kumo stood in the back rows irritated that he didn't arrive sooner to get a closer view of the fight. He would just make a big sigh and accept not being able to get a front row view, so he just made sure to listen carefully in case something happened. “Don’t fail me now ears. I wonder what's going to go down in this fight.” Kumo waits for the battle to actually begin while keeping a close eye in case he see’s anything cool or interesting. He would wonder how brutal the fight could get. Maybe someone is going to get a bone broken, a limb cut, or just completely ripped in half. With a slight grin he knows he'll be here for the whole fight.

The boy just stood and wait, it was the only thing he could do right now. Besides that, at least he is getting the chance to witness the Captain of Squad 5 in action so no complaints there. With that, he continued standing there in boredom as he lets out another sigh but more dramatic. "Dammit. I just had to take the longer route agaaaaaiiiinnnn!"

After all this time, things were finally coming together. Hayate was finally challenging the current Kenpachi to a fight to the death, and about to replace a throne in her side. Moriyama had been a pain in the ass, undermining her leadership and and her family's position. And while she personally found the royal status of her family to be a hindrance more than anything, it was here to stay and there wasn't much she could do about it that wouldn't destroy her reputation she'd built.

Bashira took a lengthy drag from her kiseru as she watched things fall into place. She'd been assured that Hayate would take the title beyond a shadow of a doubt, but there was still that gnawing feeling that things could still go wrong.

After enough shit talking had been exchanged, Bashira rose to her feet. Seemed like as good a time to get this over with as any. One last puff of smoke wafted from her lips as she looked over the two, a contender for the title of Kenpachi, and the one defending their claim to it. "You both know what you stand to lose or gain from this fight. I expect a true battle between warriors today. Show us all you resolve and dedication, and give us one hell of a show!"

Hayate peered across the crowd, letting his gaze settle upon Bashira as she began the proceedings officially. She described a ‘true battle’ when this was little more than the best way that she and Ika could think of to cleanly remove Kosuke from his position. The clan politics weren’t of interest to him, least of all now, but he wasn’t about to throw his life away here. He pulled his focus back into the fight itself, letting the onlookers vanish into the void until all that remained was his opponent and their weapon. The fell blade Onimaru was a sickening presence even here, but he couldn’t let that distract him either.

Kosuke decided to take the first move as soon as he was given clearance to begin, not bothering to unleash the blade as he tore across the arena floor in the blink of an eye with the aim to cleave the upstart in two.

Hayate countered, blocking the metal blade with his own wooden sword to brush the attack aside and respond in kind. Though there was hardly a chance he could actually cut the man with the blade in this state a single hit would be all he needed to begin whittling the Kenpachi down.

His foe deftly avoided the incoming strike and a series of brutally quick clashes erupted across the fighting field. The two warriors were quick, and seemingly almost evenly matched if not for Kosuke managing to be just a little faster.

--

Jinnosuke wasn’t suspecting to be joined by the head of the Mazi clan, far as he knew their families weren’t exactly fond of each other. Not that he ever cared much about all that. “If Kosuke loses, the blade will choose its next wielder. Besides, there are easier ways to get a target on my back.” He shrugged, unsure how much knowledge actually existed on the Moriyama heirloom. “The others can fight over it. I want nothing to do with it.” He added, half-focused on the fight going on before them. Jinno was unlike the other Moriyama clansmen, outside of his younger sister at least, nowhere near as bloodthirsty and violent, and without that air of pomp and self-importance.

He wasn’t too sure what Ika’s intentions were here, though if he were to guess it would be out of amusement or perhaps the need to meddle in Moriyama affairs. He was cautious, but that was simply how things were when it came to the old clans.

--

The fight continued, with arcs of electricity lashing out to the air between each short but fierce clash. Hayate ducked an errant strike and thrust forward with his zanpakuto to catch Shinsuke in the chest, managing to land the first solid strike of the match. The blunt blade did little but force the larger Shinigami back for a moment.

Perturbed, but mostly annoyed, Shinsuke opted to raise the stakes. “SHIKAI!” A burst of spiritual pressure filled the arena as the dreadful aura of Onimaru was unleashed into its first new form. The blade hardly changed, but the abilities it granted certainly did.

Hayate attempted to score a second hit, only for the strike to be deflected and the resulting swing to conjure a near invisible crescent of energy from the opposite side. Unable to block, he did his best to avoid the strike with speed alone as the pair fell back to a neutral position. The attack had opened a deep wound in the vice captain’s back, already bleeding profusely.

“Not bad, that should have been it for you.” Shinsuke took a moment to gloat, resting the bloodied blade on his shoulder as Hayate collected himself.

“Guess this won’t cut it… Oh well.” Hayate shook his head, unleashing his own shikai. His bokken transformed into true blade now. Still difficult to tell apart from a regular katana really, but the electricity in the air just seemed to amp up by the second between the two fighters as they moved in for another round of combat.