So, chapter 523 finally came out.
For starters, mister Idiot-Dude-With-Ridiculous-Glasses-Whose-Name-I-Will-Never-Remember tells Ichigo and Renji that the featureless beings that soon attack them are the pre-incarnation of a Zanpakuto, those that are loaned to young Soul Reapers that walk out of the academy and that he himself created all of them... Okay, I could believe that, but that doesn't mean he created 'Zanpakuto' at all. Let's think about it for a second: How did Ichigo first obtain his sword? It pretty much appeared out of thin when he became a Soul Reaper. Why wouldn't it be the case for every other Soul Reapers? Anyway, Forger-Dude says that the Zanpakuto are angry because of the way Ichigo and Renji have been using their swords, relying on its strength...
...
Okay, that's just carp stupid. On several occasions in the past, that topic has been observed, would it be during Ichigo's fight against Kenpachi, when Ichigo obtained Mugetsu or even during the Muramasa filler arc, all of that to arrive at one conclusion: Ichigo and Zangetsu are fighting
together as one. One is never above the other in any way, they are partners through and through and Ichigo has NEVER had the pretence that he was better than Zangetsu or that he was a tool. If that speech was served to Kenpachi, then yeah, it'd be perfectly appropriate, as that guy has clearly said Zanpakuto are nothing but tools, but, in Ichigo's case, we've ALREADY been through that carp! Heck, even if we were to admit that Ichigo relies too much on Zangetsu's strength and that he sees Zangetsu as a mere tool, the dude TELLS HIM ON SEVERAL OCCASIONS TO RELY ON HIS STRENGTH!! So yes, this part of the training is still stupid, especially when we see that the featureless Zanpakuto incarnation are all
crying. What a bunch of freakin'
sissies.
And now, for something much cooler: Kenpachi and Unohana meet up in Muken, the prison where Aizen is kept, so they can fight for a while. Fighting seems more like basic training than actually teaching Kenpachi the ways of the sword, but I'm guessing we won't really get to see that part. What I like about this part is that, while he doesn't really say anything clear towards that, it's easy to feel that Kenpachi actually has some admiration for Unohana Yachiru. We also learn that, before being reformed by captain Yamamoto, Unohana was some sort of murderous villain. I would be very interested in seeing that, actually.
Also, Shunsui says that, if Unohana and Kenpachi are left to fight on their own, one of them will certainly die. While I don't buy for a second Kubo will even go there, from Shunsui's point of view, that seems really counter-productive. If Unohana dies, yeah, you get a stronger Kenpachi to fight for you, but the one that TAUGHT him how to use his strength (i.e Someone that must be very strong and useful in a war) is dead. If Kenpachi dies, you just wasted everyone's time and energy and made Unohana most likely sustain major injuries... Which isn't good for a war, again. But, like I said, Kubo won't even go there.
So yeah... at least the second half of the chapter was good.