Disclaimer: The ideas and concepts used in BLEACH belong to Tite Kubo, as well as any regular characters. Most of the characters in this story belong to me. Thank you.

"ATTACK THE SHINIGAMI!!" Ten monsters had appeared out of the thicket and started charging at the sight of some maniac slowly decimating one of their own. Shin looked up at the rushing group of wolf-like lizard monsters with an apathetic gaze.

"Come on. Is that your only tactic?" Hoji was watching from his rock perch. Where he had failed, Shin excelled infinitely. The developing scene was an endless entertainment to Hoji, but something was off about the majesty he was watching. Shin was bored, even lethargic looking, as he wildly hacked the monsters to clean pieces.

In truth, Shin was fully immersed in his current work of dicing the never-ending legion of creatures. The tediousness of the fight, however, did bore him greatly as his face unconsciously showed. The monsters were starting to get the idea that this particular shinigami was far too much as they retreated into the thicket and back through an imperceptible darkness from which they had come. Shin carved the last one's skeleton face in half and stood silently admiring his non-existent work. The bodies had all dissolved away into a black mist, but evidence of the struggle remained in the overturned and scratched earth around him.

"That was" Shin hissed as he sheathed his sword, "disappointing." His sword clanged shut in its sheathe and several small twisters of dust shot up. Shin started to pace his way back to Hoji, who was still perched upon his rock and smiling. Shin shot a small smile back that he knew couldn't be seen through the veil of darkness. Hoji's smile was wiped slowly off his face by an unknown hand as he stared up in horror at something in the sky. Shin stopped as he felt a heavy presence forming up form behind him.

He turned to meet the waving black of a giant's robe. This monster stood at least twenty feet tall in a liquid-like black robe with a row of spikes protruding out above a gaping hole in its form. The beast's face had a long nose and a completely black expression, devoid of thought or order. Shin's mouth was agape, and Hoji was dryly screaming on his rock. This creature wouldn't go down with a single swing, no matter how powerful it was. In this light, Hoji miraculously focused himself and threw up his hand.

"Senkou no Shikyo!" The familiar glaring flash of light screeched through the air and into the monster's face. To Shin and Hoji's dismay, it slammed into its face and knocked it backwards, but didn't pierce straight through. The 'Senkou no Shikyo' always beamed straight through anything it was aimed at. This creature was only slightly fazed. With its body in an almost ninety-degree lean back, the creature opened its horrid mouth and roared so loudly that the clouds seemed to be retreating. Hoji recoiled only slightly, but still managed to tumble backwards off his rock. Shin stared coldly, unmoving and unwavering. His hand gripped the hilt of his sword tightly.

Suichi was given a startling set of orders to fulfill regarding Shin Kenpachi. His master had just finished lecturing him and handing him several scrolls with seals, and Suichi was off and rushing through the night. From the secret assassin's base in the highlands to the west of the Seireitei, Suichi went to the northeast to intercept his first target.

The old man must be senile, he thought as he raced onward, sending me to kill my previous client. I don't know how this is supposed to attract that Kenpachi guy, but whatever. He took a glance down at the bundle of scrolls he was toting along. I wonder what's in these things. Maybe instructions for me after I kill this guy…Yeah. That's probably it.

Suichi heard a scream coming from a small hamlet in the woods. His overwhelming sense of justice temporarily took control of his assassin body and he altered his course to search for the scream. He hopped and skipped over and across the rooftops until he could see the sight plainly. A horrible, bear-sized monster with green skin and a skeletal face was stalking towards a quivering young woman. Suichi unsheathed the sword from his waist and jumped down.

The beast roared with a hollow voice as Suichi sheathed his sword again. A gashing strike down the middle of its face sent green ooze spilling to the ground. The monster started to dissolve into black nothing as Suichi made a fearsome approach to the still cowering woman. He extended his hand and tried his hardest not to sound evil.

"Are you hurt?" he asked. The woman didn't move for a moment, then gulped and shook her head as she placed her hand daintily in his. He pulled her up to her feet swiftly and nodded with a smile. Then he was gone. The woman was sure that someone had just been there and wanted to thank them more appropriately, but now they had vanished. Suichi watched her run back through the empty streets to her home from a rooftop. After she closed the door, he continued on his path to assassinate hi former client.

Those damn monsters won't stop showing up, it seems. I doubt they're much of a problem for this 'Kenpachi' guy, though.

Shin was openly grinning. This new monster's power was exponentially greater than the other grunts that had come before it. This monster could fire a highly destructive beam from its mouth which was tearing up the surrounding landscape. Smoking craters and long burnt paths could be seen from the nearby hills, which is where Hoji had retreated too. Desperate to help, he relied on Shin distracting the beast while he fire off his 'Senkou no Shikyo' when it was visibly hurt. So far, he nearly hit Shin three times and was wary to try again.

"HAHA! This is Fantastic!" Shin exclaimed as he jumped up to carve yet another scar in the beast's face. With a roar his sword shot downward and traveled the expanse of the monster's body to the ground. The force of the impact after traveling through the beast was still enough to make an explosion upon contact with the ground. Shin looked up to watch as the best writhed and reeled its body in pain. Shin retreated a short distance and readied an attack.

"BOKO no…" He drew his sword above his head and pointed it at the sky, grasping the hilt tightly with both hands. This attack, when it hit, was monstrously powerful. The monster, in a desperate attempt at retribution against its enemy, lunged its whole body forward, following its open mouth. Shin sword shot to the ground in a swift and deadly motion.

"TSUKI!!" The beast disintegrated in a flash of blinding white light. Shin's smile had widened across his face and his eyes were staring straight through the flash he created. He watched in exceeding joy as the monster he had been fighting so vigorously against was now dissolving into dust. Hoji was knocked backwards and sent rolling halfway down the hill. His wounds found a new meaning of pain as he started counting the small rocks and gravel pieces that were lodged in his still bleeding sores.

"Man, Shin," Hoji complained to the wind as the thunderous roar of Shin's attack finally died down, "You're just too much." Feeling satisfied that his wounds were now dirt-free, Hoji climbed back up to the top of the hill. Shin was standing, unmoving, in front of an open and smoking crater where the monster had just been. It wasn't there or anywhere anymore. Even the ground seemed to disappear with it. Hoji watched as the effects of the powerful attack took effect and Shin collapsed backwards.

"Tch. It would've been funnier if he fell into the crater…Ah well." Hoji had only seen the technique used in a much less powerful manner before, during their training. This was concrete proof to him that the name does indeed make a difference in power, regardless as to how well you know the attack. Hoji slid down the hill and recovered Shin's still unmoving yet still alive body and started walking. The sun was already rising over the battle-scarred landscape.

"So much for a peaceful night of camping." Hoji complained. He pulled at Shin's body, slung over his shoulder like a sack of stolen goods, and started walking and humming. Hopefully Shin wouldn't wake up for a while and Hoji could finally get some rest.

Boko no Tsuki: Hollow Moon