As Kenpachi lay on his back, he began to do something that very few people back in Soul Society would ever believed him to be capable of doing. He thought about something that didn't involve depriving a person of their life or limbs.

This deal with Urahara sounded almost too good to be true. Scratch that. It was way too good to be true. He would get strength one way or another, whether it was through learning his Zanpakuto's name and abilities or otherwise. The fact of the matter was that he not only wanted it, but he wanted it now. The exile was doubtlessly using this to his advantage in some form or another. What Kenpachi had to decide for himself was whether that bothered him or not. On the whole he was the kind of person who disliked manipulation and dishonesty with a passion. Not that he was a goody two shoes hero or something like that, but because there was no fun in stabbing someone in the back unless they were foolish enough to show it to you on their own. Manipulating people into fighting your battles for you meant that you couldn't get the thrill of fighting personally, and dirty tricks took the challenge out of it with the fun soon to follow.

In Soul Society, Urahara Kisuke was a man known for his cunning and his ability of foresight. Just what could he be expecting to get out of this? Kenpachi wrestled with this question for a length of time before becoming frustrated at his fruitless search.

Though very clever and tactical on the battlefield when it is required of him, Kenpachi was not the sort of person who could think too deeply about boring issues such as political intrigue. It just isn't in the cards for the large man. Finally, he decided that he didn't care what the sandal hat wearing kook wanted out of him. Even if the exile was planning to use him, the track record showed that he'd get a few good fights out of it. The last time Ichigo had dealt with the shady shopkeeper, he'd ended up invading Soul Society, achieving both shikai and bankai over the course of a little more than a month. He just wanted to get stronger and have some great fights. That was all. He rolled over as best as he could onto his side and dozed off to take a nap.

Waking up for someone like Zaraki Kenpachi was somewhat like flipping a switch. The man simply just snapped his eyes open and he was ready for anything. It just came with the package of being a hard core warrior. Such was the case as he awoke from his post pondering nap. Something seemed off though. There was some kind of foreign presence in the room.

Turning over quickly Kenpachi braced his right hand under his body and prepared to jump to action should the presence choose be a threat. The person in his room was not a threat. It was none other than Urahara Kisuke… again… and this time he was staring at the 11th division taicho with a large amount of concentration. Thankfully, he'd ditched the goofy look that was plastered on his face almost every hour of the day.



"I accept."

Kisuke seemed to break from his trancelike stupor and looked at Kenpachi as if it were the first time he had noticed the large man. "Ara, what was that?" the shopkeeper asked, holding a hand up to his ear as though Kenpachi hadn't said it loud enough the first time. Great. The goofy Urahara was back.

"I said I accept your proposition. I don't care what you will be gaining by helping me, but at this point I don't care. I just want strength," the cycloptic captain stated earnestly in his gravelly voice.

"Ah, I see." the exile responded, obviously not in a talkative mood unlike usual.

That little fact bugged Kenpachi for some reason. "So, uh, when do we start?"

Urahara's eyes again seemed focused on some far away time or place before cutting back to Kenpachi. "As soon as you are completely healed."

Kenpachi looked like he had just accidentally swallowed a mouthful of rotten worms. "What? I can train just fine right now!" he raged. Healing took time, and strength was something he wanted now.

Urahara just raised an eye brow and stated, "I won't waste my time training a person who doesn't have his usual mobility, or the use of his left arm."

"Bah! You just don't want to be beaten by an injured guy! pathetic," said the one eyed captain angrily.
If the exile's attention had been elsewhere a moment ago it sure as hell wasn't anymore. "Do you plan on taking that back, Zaraki-san?"

"Hell no! I stand by what I said. You're afraid," Kenpachi stated obstinately.

"Fine then, it appears that someone needs to be taught a lesson. Pick up your zanpakuto and follow me Zaraki-san." Kisuke stood up and walked out the room and down the hall towards the back of his shop. Kenpachi shrugged his uninjured shoulder, grabbed his Zanpakuto, and followed the man to wherever he was headed. Who knows? This might actually be fun.



After following several hallways and several right and left turns they arrived at a rather unassuming set of stairs. Down the stairs went Urahara with Kenpachi in tow. Kenpachi was starting to be reminded of the underground cavern that had been beneath the Vaizard's base of operation. His hunch turned out to be correct as he suddenly walked into a large seemingly outdoor space. Hell, there was even a sky and sun way up in the air. Kenpachi just assumed it was an illusion of some kind devised by the crafty excaptain.

Without a word Urahara kept walking and Kenpachi silently followed as he checked and tightened his bandages as well as he could in preparation for the fight. There was no telling just how powerful Urahara might end up being. Suddenly the exile stopped in the middle of a large flat area of space. Kenpachi came to a halt about 10-15 feet away. It looked like this was where the rumble would take place.

Without turning around Urahara began to talk, "So Zaraki-san, is this truly the only way to get through to you… mashing your face into the ground?"

"Well, if you put it that way… Yeah, it's just about the quickest and easiest way if you ask me. Might makes right. Now, are you gonna attack first or am I?" As Kenpachi finished his lips stretched into a wide sinister smile. This was going to be fun!

"Very well. Have it your way, but I think I'll be the one to start off this little 'training session.' I will limit the use of my abilities to the base form of my Zanpakuto. So in other words: I will not use any of my Zanpakuto's release forms, but everything else at my disposal is allowed."

Gripping his nameless Zanpakuto in his right hand tightly Kenpachi drawled, "Yeah yeah, whatever man. Let's get this goin."

Urahara pivoted around on his left foot and faced the tall shinigami with his cane presented out in front of him with both hands. The hand that was on the handle slowly pulled and the handle came off revealing a Zanpakuto. The blade of his Zanpakuto was a shining silver, and the back was black. Next Urahara reached up in an all too familiar motion. It looked suspiciously like the time that fanged bitch had pulled her hollow mask out on him. Kenpachi crouched down low in preparation of what would come next should his suspicions prove accurate. Urahara swiped his hand down, and his hat solidified. Now it looked more like hollow bone than fabric. The reiatsu pressure coming off the man now sent Kenpachi skidding back.

"He is stronger than ol' Miss Fang back at the warehouse… not good," thought Kenpachi as he reached 

up to rip his eyepatch off. He was forced to stop when Urahara disappeared. Crap. He was coming. Since Urahara was right handed, he'd probably be coming from the right. Sure enough, Kenpachi caught sight of the exile only a couple steps away and moved to block. Benihime was inches from his right torso. Sparks flew and metal screamed in protest as the two Zanpakuto's crashed in a violent display of power. The earth beneath the 11th division taicho's feet shattered and buckled beneath the forces that wrestled for supremacy atop its surface. Despite having had set his feet firmly on the ground Kenpachi was finding himself being pressed back while Urahara's now yellow eyes seemed slightly bored.

"Weak," spoke Urahara just loud enough for Kenpachi to hear moments before a large explosion sent the scarred man rocketing pack into a large boulder.

As the cyclops got back up off the ground he was holding his left arm. Blood literally flooded through the now soaked bandage. The damn wound had opened up and then some judging by the river of his lifeblood that was streaming down his side and mixing with the dust on the ground. Instead of yielding to his obviously stronger opponent, Kenpachi dropped his weapon and stubbornly reached up to his eye patch and ripping it off. The warm secure feeling of his unleashed reiatsu refreshed him, if only slightly. Kenpachi took a glance at his wounds and the river of blood coming from him before estimating that he had a minute or less.

"Well, might as well get as much fun out of this as I can before I pass out!" Roared the one eyed killer as he released control to his berserker rage. Urahara was suddenly in his face, but this time Kenpachi's instincts had taken over and he was ready. Instead of blocking the powerful strikes the big man put on an impressive show of agility and speed as he dodged all of the attacks and sent back a few semi-effective counter attacks for good measure. None of his attacks were finding purchase on the newly revealed Vaizard while he was already sporting a half dozen shallow cuts along his chest and right arm.

As the fight progressed Kenpachi slowly, but surely, grew more and more sluggish while noticing that Urahara was merely toying with him. Finally, he was too slow to dodge. Kenpachi found Urahara's Zanpakuto buried to the hilt in his right shoulder forcing the brute of a man to drop his saw like blade down to the ground.

Head swimming, Zaraki Kenpachi fell to his knees with Urahara's Zanpakuto still firmly buried into his shoulder. He was barely conscious at this point and was suffering from a severe case of tunnel vision.

"Take this as a lesson, Zaraki Kenpachi-san. On Aizen's side of this war there are many opponents who are nearly as strong as me. Some are actually equal to or greater than me. Yet, I defeated you at your current peak power with nothing but my mask activated. To be honest, I never even took this battle seriously. I was toying with you. Now what if I had actually used my Shikai? Or maybe even my Bankai? You would surely have been turned to dust… Now, sleep, and when you awake, I need you to focus on 

healing up so that we may actually begin to do some real training instead of another pointless debacle such as this one."

In his mind, the giant of a man was strangely focused on every word his new teacher had just said. For the first time in his long life after death Zaraki Kenpachi truly understood just how weak he really was. The blackness consumed him and he fell forward onto his face when Urahara removed the blade from Kenpachi's shoulder.

When Zaraki awoke nearly a week later he found that his wounds were already well on their way to healing. He assumed that Urahara had worked a bit of his magic on him while he had slept, because the large cut that had nearly claimed his left arm was now just a large angry red scar. It was still very soft to the touch, and the muscles weren't quite healed all the way but at least his skin had closed up. A few more days and he might be almost at one hundred percent again. Standing up he decided to go bother the young ones to see if there was anything he could help with around the house. He had a growing hunch that he knew where Yachiru had been keeping herself busy all this time.

Scene Change. Ichigo's corner of the world

Falling on his newly masked face Ichigo felt a wave of accomplishment flow through his mind. He had managed to subjugate his hollow in his mental world and already he could feel the enormous new powers that he commanded coursing through him. Oh, he couldn't wait to test it out!

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A/N

Well. Here is mah new chapter. I will not be following Ichigo's training with the Vaizards besides the little scene here or there showing him as he masters something or some such. The true main character of this story is Zaraki Kenpachi. Next update a few new people will be introduced… well not new in the Bleachverse, but they will appear for the first time in this story lol.

Read and review please D