Episode 38: The Man With Five Hearts

Kenpachi slashed down at Kakuzu, who dodged it and kicked Kenpachi in the face and knocked him backwards. Kenpachi did a back flip and landed on his feet and charged back at him. The grin remained on his face.

Kenpachi was suddenly right in front of Kakuzu, and he slashed him across the chest.

How is he so fast? Thought Kakuzu, as he jumped backwards to reduce the damage. With Kenpachi's slash, he ripped Kakuzu's Akatsuki cloak, showing Kakuzu's bare chest. He was muscular, and he had stitches all over his body.

He growled, and he detached his fist to punch at Kenpachi's face. This time, Kenpachi dodged it, and slashed the wires.

Kakuzu's eyes widened, and then Kenpachi grabbed the torn wires, and yanked Kakuzu closer to him. As Kakuzu got closer he detached his other hand and he punched Kenpachi in the face, but at the same time Kenpachi slashed him.

Kakuzu landed on the ground behind Kenpachi, and he picked up his fist and reattached it.

Kenpachi turned around, and his grin broadened. "This is getting to be so much fun."

Kakuzu clenched his fists. "I'll admit, you're no ordinary opponent."

"Yeah, neither are you."

"So I'm going to have to show you my power."

Kenpachi's hand reached for his eye patch. "This eye patch is sealing my power so I can enjoy my fights longer. But seeing that you're strong enough to where I can kill you without holding back."

"Kill me? You'll need to kill me more than once to bring me down."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"You'll find out."

Kakuzu threw the rest of his cloak off, so now he was just wearing his pants and sandals. He had four masks on his back. Suddenly all four of the masks leapt off of his back, and then the black wires formed bodies for all of them.

Kenpachi grabbed his eye patch, and threw it to the ground. His chakra exploded all around him, and Kakuzu even had to lift his arm to protect himself from the chakra.

Tatsuzo looked at the Ino-Shika-Cho Formation. "We need to get out of here. If we get caught near Kenpachi as he goes full power then we'll be toast."

Yosuke suddenly took off, running in the direction away from Kenpachi and Kakuzu. The four of them chased after him.

Rinji and Kakashi glanced over to see Kenpachi's chakra exploding all around him.

"We need to get away from here before Kenpachi's spirit energy wipes us off the face of the earth!" Rinji called.

Kakashi nodded. "The question is how to get away and get Hidan to follow us."

Hidan slashed down at Kakashi, who blocked it with a kunai, and then Kakashi and Rinji took off running.

"GET BACK HERE!" Hidan roared as he chased after them.

"Alright, that worked." Rinji said.

Kakashi nodded.

"Just so you know... if any blood of mine gets drawn then stay back. You will die if you get in my way. This is a warning, not a threat."

Ikkaku and Yumichika glanced at Kenpachi as he was going full power.

"Let's go." Said Shikyo before anyone could say anything.

The two fighters turned to him.

"I will not fight weaklings while there is a distraction. So we're going to move to where there isn't one."

He turned, and then darted off.

Ikkaku and Yumichika darted after him too.

If Ikkaku loses I'll use my true Shikai form on the enemy... Yumichika thought.

Good. Now that Zaraki-sensei's out of sight, I'm going to test my next power up... Ikkaku thought.

Kenpachi gripped his blade and he charged at Kakuzu.

Kakuzu made a hand sign. "Water Style: Sky Soaker!"

The one wire monster blasted water from it's mouth, right at Kenpachi.

Kenpachi jumped backwards, but the water still hit him. It didn't hurt him, it wasn't even hot.

Kakuzu made more hand signs. "Lightning Style: False Darkness!"

The second monster gathered lightning at it's mouth, and shot it at Kenpachi who was still in the water.

Kenpachi gripped his sword with both hands, and then slashed down. Energy exploded off of his sword, sending water flying everywhere, and the blast sent Kakuzu flying backwards and it took out his Water Style Mask Demon Thing.

Kakuzu landed on the ground. The mask demons ran back to him. There were three of them left, because the one got cut enough by Kenpachi's two handed slash.

Kenpachi grinned, and walked forwards.

Kakuzu's arm burst into wire. "Counting the original, my body contains five hearts. The hearts turn into these masks. But thanks you to, I'm in need of a replacement. So I'll be taking yours."

"That so?" Kenpachi's devilish grin broadened. "My heart is so evil that if you tried to use it, you'd surely die."

"That's a risk I'm willing to take." He made a hand sign. "Wind Style: Pressure Damage." The air around Kakuzu suddenly started spinning around so fast that the air turned white, and it sent Kenpachi flying backwards. Or would have, if Kenpachi didn't stab his sword into the ground to stop himself.

Kenpachi then darted towards Kakuzu, who made a handsign.

"Lightning Style: False Darkness." Lightning shot at Kenpachi, but he dodged to the side, and then he darted towards Kakuzu, and stabbed him in the chest. Kakuzu didn't even have time to react.

The Lightning Mask went into Kakuzu's back.

"Great, now I'm missing two hearts. I guess I'll need to kill one of your friends and make them into one of my hearts."

"Even if I die here, then the next Kenpachi will take you and your stupid organization down. Sooner or later, the next generator will surpass the previous one."*

"That so?" Kakuzu's remaining masks, the fire and wind demon mask thing, formed into one monster, with both masks in tact. Both masks opened their mouths, and then there was a fiery explosion.

Kenpachi was forced backwards. Kakuzu then charged at him himself, and then he punched down onto Kenpachi's chest. Blood splattered, and Kakuzu took his fist back. He went to punch him again, but this time Kenpachi cut his arm off. He then gripped his sword with both hands, and he slashed down at the large masks, and it destroyed them.

Kenpachi then turned to Kakuzu. "Just you and me then."

"Four hearts down. I guess I'll need to take your heart, those Metal ninja's hearts, and then that grey haired Leaf Ninja's heart."

"Yeah, you do that. See where that gets you. Even if you do manage to kill me, you won't be able to kill either of those metal ninjas."

"FINE!" Suddenly wires exploded all around him, lashing all about at Kenpachi. Kenpachi leapt up into the air, and he slashed down across some of the wires.

More wires wrapped around Kenpachi's wrists, and then Kakuzu jabbed his hand into his lower stomach. Kenpachi then slashed the wires from himself, and then slashed Kakuzu across the shoulder.

Kakuzu groaned, and then he threw Kenpachi backwards, and then speared him in the chest with the wires. He gripped the wires, and then he yanked them from his chest. He then stabbed Kakuzu right in the shoulder.

Kakuzu slapped Kenpachi in the face and sent him flying backwards. Kenpachi hit the ground with a thud, and he got back to his feet. Kenpachi cracked his knuckles, and he walked towards the old Akatsuki.

Kakuzu charged at him like an animal.

Kenpachi gripped his blade with both hands, and then slashed down at Kakuzu. The slash cut him his arm off, and then Kakuzu slashed him across the stomach.

Kenpachi then stumbled backwards a step, and Kakuzu did too. Kenpachi nearly dropped his sword. He was breathing heavily.

"At last... I found someone that was stronger than me. If this was a different time and place, you might have actually become Kenpachi!"

"I have no interest in such pointless titles. Tell me, what is your real name?"

"Kenpachi is my real name. Before I was known as Kenpachi I was nameless. I had to kill my sensei to become Kenpachi. Kenpachi is not a title to take lightly. The name itself will kill you."

Kakuzu charged him, and speared his arm all the way through Kenpachi's stomach. Kenpachi gripped his blade, and he stabbed Kakuzu right in the shoulder. Kakuzu groaned, and stepped backwards. He let go of Kenpachi, and Kenpachi dropped his sword.

Both fighters fell on their backs, neither of them able to fight any longer.

Both of them were bleeding very badly.

"I may have multiple hearts... but I am still human. You bastard. I almost forgot about that fact, but then you had to remind me of it."

Suddenly several people appeared.

A young woman with pink hair, and a red headband in her hair like a bow knelt next to Kenpachi. She was wearing a red uniform that resembled a karate uniform.

She made some hand signs, and then green energy gathered around her hand.

"The Akatsuki is still alive." Said one of the other medics.

"Then kill him." Said one of the other medics.

"No." Kenpachi said. "I can do it myself."

"You can't move." Said the girl with pink hair. Kenpachi sat up a little. "You shouldn't move." She pushed him back down.

Kenpachi's eyes closed, and he passed out.

Notes: *Kakashi originally said this, to Kakuzu. I know this quote is a little too profound to Kenpachi, but Kenpachi is thinking of the legacy of the title of Kenpachi, while Kakashi is thinking of Naruto.