Author Notes: This is my version of the infamous Ichigo vs Kenpachi fight, the first chapter of this epic fight. And to see how Aizen's been doing in the Soul Society while everything is happening.

Chapter 32: The Immortal Man


A quiet ringing of bells was heard in the dojo room as the man that had spoken earlier felt like his presence slowly got closer and closer. The situation was as tense as a tense.

Ichigo was especially distressed by this immense Spiritual Pressure, he looked at his Visored to see if they were remaining calm- he was surprised at what they did instead.

Love, Lisa and Hiyori instinctively opened one of the tatami mats, revealing a hidden passage way. They quickly rushed into the entrance and closed it just as quickly to Ichigo's horrified confusion. Even more unsettling, the opposing group had decided to not fight. Hao then asked the one with the turban a surprising request-

"Turbine. Mind if you ask your Djinn in the lamp for a wish in order to change the scenery to something a bit more spacious? I feel like its too crowded in here and I don't want to get caught in the crossfire...and likely none of you, especially Ashil over there."

The one known as Turbine complied silently as he summoned from the green jewel in the hand strap in a puff of green smoke- an aquamarine Djinn entity with an orange ponytail and a muscular upper torso.

"الجن منح رغبتي: إنشاء ساحة المعركة الجهنمية لهذه السيوف المتعطشة للدماء اثنين!," Turbine recited in Arabic to the Djinn, causing it to clap its hands. The Dojo changed into a black sky realm with a ground littered with countless human bones.

"I'm not going to even ask what you just did... and you managed to create a flying carpet so you don't get caught in crossfire.," Ichigo said this to Turbine as he saw the man along with Hao and his entire group on an emerald colored flying carpet large enough to hold them all, but was able to levitate in the sky with green sprinkles of light raining down from it.

"Consider this, you're going to be either cut to death by him, in which cause I'll kill you with a single shot or you manage to win...and I still kill you in a single blow...boy.," Turbine taunted Ichigo in a quiet tone of twisted humor as he pointed his glass jewel towards the young man as it charged with a dim green light.

"I wouldn't do either of those things if I were you. What I felt from my shared connection with the shikigami that I summoned earlier was that the man that's about to come will likely kill you if you try either of those things.," Hao told Turbine in a voice of calm, yet threatening aura as the turban wearing man backed down from his taunts and became silent.

However, Ichigo's thoughts were completely on the incoming enemy instead.

I felt this Spiritual Pressure while it was far away. It makes those Zombies I fought seem like lousy punks in comparison. It feels more similar to what that Rukia girl was...an actual Soul Reaper...yet its more...dangerous..., Ichigo thought with a nervous gulp.

He then saw the black silhouette of a pointed edged headed, right single eyed giant coming towards him with a golden outline of Spiritual Pressure, slowly approaching him with subtle steps like a monster slowly savoring its intended kill.

"So you're the Masked Fighter that I saw yesterday. I better hope you're worth the wait...Boy."

Ichigo felt that the man behind him smirking with a lucid grin as he suddenly felt a stab in his chest. A rusty edged blade had pierced his heart as the blood slowly dripped downwards. Ichigo decided to close his eyes with this thought in mind.

Don't think he's killed you just now...he said he was waiting for me..., which means he doesn't want to kill you yet.

Ichigo reopened them to see that the wound had all been in his mind, created from the approaching man's bloodlust. He then looked again as the silhouette solidified into its natural savage form.

It was a tall giant of male Soul Reaper with a heavily muscular body structure. He had a long face with a pointed ended nose, pronounced cheekbones, pronounced, hairless brow ridges, a green iris right eye and long, stringy black hair that was styled into eleven stiff strands like a hellish star with small bells attached to them as they rang quietly as he moved. The right side of his face had a long, thin scar that went across his right eye. His left eye was covered by an unique looking black eyepatch that was elegant with a golden lining and a chain on one of the straps. He also wore a black choker necklace around his neck. His attire was that of a black Soul Reaper kimono with white bandages across his midsection and a white sleeveless, haori that had a ragged appearance on its edges.

He wielded in his right hand, a chipped and worn-out edged blade, that was the size of a nodachi, with a long brass guard which extended inward from its center, similar to a shinai sword. The hilt was white, though most of it is wrapped in bandages, as is his sword's sheath. Despite its weathered appearance, Ichigo felt like the sword was infinitely stronger then the Visored's released weapons.

The giant stared down with an upward half circle eye as he smiled subtly as he told Ichigo this in a slow and violent tone-

"Yo... Captain of 11th Division, Kenpachi Zaraki. I'm here to fight you to the death."


I was born with no name in the 80th District of the Soul Society's Rukon District, it was a lawless hell, though the 320th District is the worst of all ordering to rumors...

I found this blade and took it as my own. So I killed, I killed and I killed...it was pointless slaughter. Then I finally found something that was worth cutting down, a Soul Reaper that was the very first Kenpachi- the strongest Zanjutsu user of the Soul Society, a name that I have inherited proudly to the point that it is my first name while the my last name is merely the area I was born in. We both laid scars on one another, I was a kid back then, but this one was an experienced adult...so I felt like I had become something great...until this person decided to go to another Division, taking on the role of a healer...I had destroyed this person's potential...like this Soul Reaper probably felt when I came to realize that I was too strong.,"

"I eventually found a purpose in my depression...to be a Soul Reaper, by waiting centuries to hone my skills while the Kenpachis of 9th generations established legacies that would frighten everyone that dared to attack the Soul Society. When I finally became strong enough, I found this child...a pink haired girl who was just as enthralled with carnage as I was. I named her after the Soul Reaper that had wounded me...the one I admired the most.,"

"Through my travels, I somehow got a lot of punks to follow me into the Soul Society. And I faced off against the 10th Kenpachi...it was fun, it makes me regret never having to face the eight in between the first and the tenth...such a wasted opportunity. That's survival of the fittest. I took him down and became the 11th Kenpachi...and still I was unsatisfied. I had made casual official exhibitions offers with the other Captains aside from the one who became the healer...for I knew this was the one who gave me this scar. I just did what I usually done, attack with full force- and they just fell down...especially the 5th one...it was kept off the records..., but I was disgusted that the one was stronger than he appeared was an even bigger coward than all of the men I ever killed...a revolting paradox...then the 1st Captain decided to train for a little while...and stopped when I displayed too much power. Those Royal Guard guys tried to recruit me, but I had the wisdom to know that in spite of all my strength...all my power...I was lesser than even a regular Soul Reaper aside from my sword. That's when I Despaired...when I almost considered going into that Hueco Mundo place where the really strong Hollows...the Vasto Lorde, especially the "God King" resided...not to fight a worthy opponent, but to at least down in glory. The others in my Division were really upset when they felt that I was about to go through with it. So I had an eyepatch made for me to limit my powers- so I could fight on an even level"

"Then a baby came and changed everything. It was strong- she was too strong for her own good. She had come from an even worse place than where I was born- Yakunan, the 320th District that was literally a piece of Hell that somehow appeared in the Soul Society long ago. before the Soul King was even born according to rumors. She was far more than what my admired person was- absolute combat incarnate. So much that she couldn't even spend a second without a random burst of carnage to the point that her face was forcibly covered by a mask with a similar concept to my eyepatch...except she could never remove it to show her face or else, she'd go crazy again. I was complaining about nothing, someone with power had it worse than me, I was a brat complaining about nothing. So I challenged her and we were going to fight...and as a sick joke, a Hollow that would be worth neither of our time kills her and I later see that she was reduced to a literal puppet by this now Arrancar-fied Hollow, who turned out to be a pawn of that Aizen coward...it was a sick joke on me. She came back eventually to my surprise, but for the moment, I lost hope in finding a strong enough foe."

"Until I saw the masked fighter along with that orange woman with him manage to take down a monster that had killed 13 powerful seated Soul Reapers, some capable of Bankai, including the Yakunan girl as it turned out. I was delighted in the opportunity...to finally face someone that could make me go all out. Even more than those two powerful guys from earlier- the Masked Fighter had become my goal for the moment- the ultimate battle.


"You're a lot different than how I'd thought you'd look without that mask of yours.," Kenpachi said to Ichigo with a narrow gaze of observation. Ichigo gulped with a nervous sweat, before realizing what this likely meant for him.

"...So a sudden change in my training regime. Instead of sword techniques, I'm actually getting into an actual sword fight with a really powerful Soul Reaper...just my luck," Ichigo stated in a calm, rational tone to the large man while hiding his hidden sense of terror towards the Soul Reaper Captain.

He suddenly noticed Orihime was at the large man's side laying on the ground in a collapsed state of exhaustion, she had returned to her regular form, leaving the winged state she was in a mystery to Ichigo at the current moment.

"Orihime...come on, you need to rest...why are you with him?," Ichigo spoke with intense concern for her wellbeing and questioned why she was with Kenpachi right now.

"I'm...fine...more importantly, I kinda thought after seeing him that...he'd make a better teacher for you.," Orihime replied with a subtle tone of sarcasm to Ichigo's surprise. Kenpachi grunted when she referred to him as this.

"Yeah it feels bad to insult them after all the effort they put into their duel with me, but it was kinda hard with a big spear, a cactus club and whatever Hiyori's segmented sword crap was to get the feel of a real sword fight...the way...I sense that this Zaraki guy's going to give me when I fight him.," Ichigo replied with an apologetic tone towards his mentors as he faced the large Captain.

Meanwhile, the three Visored felt a shiver of irritation as they headed to Shinji to warn him about Hao and his followers. The fact that they were both insulted and secretly knew that they weren't suited for Ichigo's type of training irked them to no end- at least Hiyori felt that way. Love then found it humorous while Lisa was overall stoic.


Orihime looked longingly at Ichigo as she touched her stomach with a weak smile as she told him-

"You once said you wanted to protect a mountain-load of people once to yourself while you thought no one was listening, I heard it. So you need to be strong- stronger than anyone here...so make sure you to beat him...okay?"

Ichigo looked longingly at her for the first time, they shared a more intimate moment that went more than just classmate acquaintanceship or heterosexual friendship...it was something closer to what Ichigo's dad had once told him about his mother- that she was like his sun.

"Sure, I'll take care of him. Get some rest while I'm doing this.," Ichigo replied as he took a battle stance against Kenpachi Zaraki.

And to also satisfy your need to fight...though I bet Ichigo knows this deep in his heart., Orihime thought to herself as she slowly went to sleep from the overuse of her new powers.

After that touching moment, the tone became dark, even darker than when Ichigo had fought Grand Fisher the night before.


"Come on you can make the first strike.," Kenpachi told Ichigo with a wide grin.

"...This won't lead to anything ridiculous like an absurd ability...right?," Ichigo asked nervously.

"I feel that you got stronger by a little bit since last night. But, you're still full of holes, your stance is rigid, but your Spiritual Pressure is good...in fact, at this point- you're probably close to that Kuchiki girl in terms of skill even if your Spiritual Pressure in on another league than hers. So there's no need for an absurd ability...because I'm giving ya the advantage right now.," Kenpachi replied in a smug smile of anticipation.

He sheathed his sword and pulled open his kimono to show his chest. Ichigo's eyes narrowed at the gesture in confusion.

"I'll let you have the first blow. Cut me wherever you want.," Kenpachi told Ichigo with a calm tone as he smirked.

"This is a sword match, shouldn't you be drawing your sword? Its unfair to attack an unarmed man.," Ichigo replied with a stunned expression.

"Not attacking a man that hasn't drawn his sword...you definitely have the Shiba Clan's sense of honor...must be from your father that I just met earlier.," Zaraki scoffed as he turned to the right side as he recalled Isshin that he met at the grassland a short while ago.

"What?!," Ichigo spoke with a wide eyed expression of startled confusion. His blade wavered once he heard this startling revelation.

"Don't think hard about it now. Let's have fun- to decide who lives or who dies. I'm just killing time right now. Come on, you can have my throat, my uncovered eye or just kill me through the heart.," Kenpachi told Ichigo with a jagged grin.

"Well aren't you really generous to do that...," Ichigo said sarcastically towards the giant Captain as he held his stance rigid like Kenpachi had implied he had done.

"I know right. I'm a real charity cause. And I'm not mocking you- its a free-shot to see if you're all that you're cracked up to be. You can start off without the mask, then put it on once you get more serious.," Kenpachi responded with a brutally serious expression with a grimace.

"I better take your offer...I just know its too good to be true.," Ichigo said with a sigh he charged at Kenpachi with his Zanpakuto raised. The eyepatch wearing man smirked in anticipation.


Soul Society- Zaraki District

"For Eleven Generations, the name Kenpachi has meant the strongest Soul Reaper with the largest desire to fight and the largest kill count. It means no matter how much they've been killed, they'll never go down...they're immortal except before other Kenpachi successors some say Their power goes beyond the concepts of strength/weakness...wouldn't you all agree those of the Zaraki District...huh, I'm speaking to myself about a man that no longer can reach my level of power.," said a calm, but demonically warped voice that seemed to be once human. What the person- formerly known as Sōsuke Aizen was now could only be described as a monster.

A hellish white skinned humanoid with three completely white pupil-less eyes, a blackened, sharp teethed demon like skull with the remains of its previous white featureless face on the sides of its head and three holes running vertically down its chest with the Hōgyoku in the middle of the top hole. Its feet had become single blackened claw like boots and blackened sharp clawed hands wielding a jagged edged blackened Zanpakutō fused into its left claw. On its back were a set of six sheet like wings with white iris/black sclera eyes in the center of the wingspan, adorned with Hollow-like skulls that trailed into tendrils. Its "clothing" had vanished as his musculature became more defined than it was previously.

It levitated over the ground covered in dismembered body parts, organs and blood stained buildings of the Zaraki District, it had devoured the entire population aside from one man and two children.

"Tch, he's already killed 79 Districts and now he's after the 80th huh? Is he trying to be the next Kenpachi?," the man said to himself with a dry sense of humor directed towards the monster's mass slaughter.

The tri-eyed monster's eyes narrowed as the man's head was about to swell up like the hapless victims that it had invoked onto those that had defied it directly.

Suddenly, it felt a cold blade inserted into the jewel inside its chest. It did not bother to turn its head around as it decided to speak as if it already knew what had done this action. The children took the man by the shoulder and ran as fast as they could from the monster.

"Are you about to say something profound. Don't use strong words to describe what you're doing...you'll be seen as weak...Toshiro.," said the winged abomination as if the strike did not even harm it jewel or even crack it- it seemed like it just phased through it. The stabber's identity was the current 10th Division Captain, Toshiro Hitsugaya.

"That's Captain Hitsugaya...you're not worthy of saying my name anymore, you demon. This isn't a fight- its an extermination for an animal that's going wild in the Rukon District...and being a spoiled brat who's throwing a temper tantrum because he lost to Zaraki...at least everyone else acknowledged that they all underestimated him.," said the young captain with turquoise eyes and spiky white hair. He retracted the blade and stepped a few feet back.

"An Animal? A Brat? A God is more accurate- One to replace the inept Soul King- its a waste to use this form on you...so I will devolve into my previous form for this moment...although even before my transformation- you were no match for me.," said the monster as its form mutated back into its phantom like shape as it raised its blade towards the 10th Captain.

Hitsugaya rushed at the former Soul Reaper with ice forming into the shape of a turquoise orient dragon.


Ichigo was shocked yet unsurprised at the same time for what had just occurred., Despite his sword cutting a massive slash of blood through the middle of the chest of the giant man, he did not falter- in fact, he was more enthralled than before. Ichigo noticed that his own chest was bloodied with some white bone sticking out and he coughed out a puddle of blood from his mouth. It felt like Ichigo had hit an iron wall with spikes and the spikes had managed to shoot out at him when he managed to strike the wall's surface.

"I knew that you were strong..., but this is ridiculous.," Ichigo commented on the man's incredible durability while also realizing that he seemed to be the one more heavily damaged than his opponent.

"The 12th Division's Research Department calculated my Spiritual Pressure at 800 Billion. It was a shock for everyone in the room when they saw the amount I had. Thankfully, I'm more interested in holding back than going all out most of the time.," Kenpachi replied as he felt his chest wound.

The multi-pointed ended haired man sighed as he then continued as he spoke this-

"When two Spiritual Pressures collide the weaker one feels the most damage- though it ain't the deciding factor, especially if the stronger one gets a death blow after the weaker one croaks from the even stronger recoil. Basically, the Spiritual Pressure coming from my body unconsciously is stronger than your entire being including your Zanpakuto, but if you abandon your life...you might be able to kill me. Come on, a wound like that can't kill you...especially when you managed to cut me with that strike., " Kenpachi explained to Ichigo.

Kenpachi then noticed something odd occurring to his opponent.

Ichigo's chest was covered by an orange energy shield that reversed the damage from the recoil earlier.

Ichigo looked to Orihime, who was still resting...he looked up as he pondered why this was happening to him as he chest went back to normal.

"That ain't far...you have that girl's powers as well...," Kenpachi said to the orange haired boy with a sneer of annoyance.

"What're you saying?," Ichigo asked for more clarification for what he meant by those words.

"It's what my gut's telling me...you both used to be separate Souls, but in order to save your life for some reason...part of her soul got into you when you became a masked Soul Reaper and that created a strong bond between your souls. Then she did something to save you from turning into something else by taking half of it while giving you her half in return...," Kenpachi replied in a surprisingly perceptive tone.

"So you're saying that Orihime and I...," Ichigo replied with astonished dread of what he was about to say next..

"On the outside you're both two skins that can do whatever women and men do with each other when you're alone- I don't give a shit what goes on in your private life. On the inside, you got half of her Soul's skeleton like she's got yours, one that's automatically going to heal you even if I cut you down to atoms I bet. The same case with the girl...its like you got eternal life now. A real immortal man.," Kenpachi responded with a wide eyed expression of elation. This caused Hao's dark brown eyes to turn white with indignation as he heard these words.

"Which immortal will fall first? The one will recover or the one with endless stamina...I can't wait!," Kenpachi shouted as he lunged at Ichigo with surprising speed.

"If what you said was true then my life isn't just for you to take. Its to be with her if she managed to make that kind of sacrifice.," Ichigo said with a stern tone as he lunged at the 11th Captain with Zangetsu, now with far less hesitation than before. He noticed that all this time, Orihme was protected by an orange barrier surrounding her while the two clashed.

Did she summon that while she's still sleeping..no according to what Kenpachi said...I have half of her Soul now...so I must doing it to protect her., Ichigo thought with a tone of gratitude towards the now sleeping girl.


Urahara Shop- Black Space Room

"Ok, why are you guys here? I was expectin' ya all to be on the ground in a bloody heap when Ichigo was done with ya.," Shinji told Love, Lisa and Hiyori in a peeved tone, before the latter decided to thwack him with her sandal multiple times in annoyance. Rose was more lenient to the trio as he asked them in a more concerned, yet bored tone-

"An enemy managed to come to the base didn't they...and they're strong aren't they?"

"Yup, and not only that...Kenpachi is here as well.," Love told Rose with his eyes sullen as they shined through his sunglasses.

"I thought he died...you must mean the 11th one right? I heard he was a complete brute with no restraint, that boy will be killed if he's not careful dealing with him.," Rose said with a tone of disheartened somberness as he realized who Love meant by those words.

"I feel Kisuke was a little rushed earlier- he only showed the Spiritual Pressure side of things.," Lisa told Rose, concerned about Ichigo's safety.

"Its because most Spiritually Aware people use Reikaku (Spiritual Sense) to sense whats coming out of one's body, what is known as Spiritual Pressure. Spiritual Power on the other hand, is more complicated, it's associated with the sensitivity and willpower, not very interesting compared to what forceful presence Spiritual Pressure can do to an opponent. Yet it's more important overall in order to be more than just throwing Spiritual Pressure to intimidate everyone you meet.," Rose explained to the group in a dramatic tone as he posed elegantly

"You mean the stuff in the Academy right about Spiritual Power being the power of the Soul crap right?," Hiyori asked Rose with an irritated sneer as she put her hands behind her head while Shinji struggled to get up from the assault that he had just been subjected to.

"Correct. Everything has a level of Spiritual Power at birth to varying degrees once it reaches a certain level, it allows one to have supernatural powers to be used for good or evil purposes. At the minimum, you can see ghosts, Hollows, Soul Reapers, etc; its when you refine it that you become a threat because one can finely control it through mastery in the four techniques for the Soul Reapers to boost their powers, the monstrous powers of the Hollows, the Quincy's energy manipulation, the Full-Bringer's object manipulation, etc. etc.," Rose replied in a lectures tone before Love smacked him in the back of the head for being too long-winded.

"Let's hope Ichigo learns about this...otherwise, he's gonna die.," Shinji said with a narrowed expression and a more serious voice as he addressed Ichigo's likely fate.


Skeleton Field Sub-Dimension

About a hour had passed since the fight began between the two men.

Ichigo and Kenpachi continued their sword clashing with yellow and black/red Spiritual Pressure coming from the strikes. The latter was being cut viciously with red blood slashes to his body, yet he refused to stubble in defeat. Slowly the orange haired Soul Reaper became unnerved by the fact he couldn't bring him down.

Damnit, I'm cutting him...I'm cutting him..., but, he won't stay down...Damnit! Calm down...his Spiritual Pressure number was just intimidating me...if I concentrate...if I concentrate...," Ichigo thought to himself in order to focus on his means of attack.

"Remember, this Zanpakuto is not merely a weapon to cut down one's opponent.," said the voice behind him, that of the orange sunshade wearing middle aged man that represented Zangetsu's consciousness with a voice of quiet assurance.

"Right...Getsuga...," Ichigo declared as his Spiritual Power went into his sword, creating black Spiritual Pressure with red outlines. Kenpachi's eyes widened in shock as his sword started to swing with more force than before.

"Tensho!"

The skeleton covered ground was engulfed by the black energy slash as it continued on for miles as the group on the carpet looked in shock. Ichigo smirked in victory until he heard bells behind him as a frightening voice spoke out-

"Oh you hit me alright, if it's any consolation- it hurts like hell. Its good that you're able to hear these bells now. I wear these and my eyepatch for the sake of prolonging the battle. If you want to have fights last long, restraining yourself is important, allows your enemies to exploit the weaknesses you provide them with."

Ichigo blocked the sword from behind as he saw a very bloodied red colored Kenpachi with shredded clothing and a mad expression with a completely whitened right eye. He calmed down to noticed that Kenpachi's Zanpakuto was completely silent aside from the Spiritual Pressure that it exuded out of its form.

"I don't feel anything from that sword like how it is with me and Zangetsu...is it because its asleep or do you not know its name?,"Ichigo said with an insightful inquiry on Kenpachi's Zanpakuto as he turned to face him. Kenpachi's eyes narrowed when Ichigo had finished his sentence.

"Yeah, it doesn't have a name as of yet. So what you're seeing is my true form...or maybe my Spiritual Pressure is so strong that it doesn't matter if its sealed or not. So I hold back so I don't kill my opponents so easily. They're usually so fragile that it would be over in an instant.," Kenpachi declared as he suddenly decided to hold both hands on his sword over his head...like how Love had done earlier in their training sparring.

"Tch, didn't want to do this so soon...Ryōdan.," Kenpachi stoically declared as he swung his sword downwards to release wide golden slash of Spiritual Energy at the orange haired boy, cutting a massive slash of blood through his torso diagonally his eyes blurred from the blood loss.

"What a fuckin' shame...all this for nothing.," Kenpachi said as he looked at the slowly collapsing form of Ichigo as he fell flat on the ground. He turned his attention to Hao with an expression of disappointment.


Ichigo slowly opened his eyes. Instead of the battlefield, Ichigo was in the space where the buildings were sideways, where he had first met Zangetsu. The middle aged man was there with a stern expression as he looked at Ichigo. A white wisp manifested and began to solidify in shape.

"It is time. I told you before that I was both your power and at the same time I was not. It is perplexing to comprehend at the moment, but you don't have just myself alone as your power...you have another...sword as well.," the man spoke cryptically.

Ichigo turned around to see an unusual person on the old man's side. It was somewhat tall and lean-built male humanoid with white skin and short spiky hair. His eyes consisted of black pupils, white irises, and black sclera. He had black nails on his fingers. His attire was a white Soul Reaper uniform with a black belt. Shockingly, he looked exactly like Ichigo except more lucid in appearance.

"I almost ate you yesterday till the girl interfered with her little tricks. For now, know that I'm Zangetsu No.2...and for a little while, the owner of your body.," said the white haired young man in a deranged expression in which his right eye was bigger than his left.


Chapter 33: Nature of Man