A long time ago, there was a boy with no name. He awoke in the most distant alley of the farthest district. On the edge of the Zaraki District of the northern Rukongai. The boy had no home. No family. No friends. No purpose.
The boy grew, and as he grew, he became stronger. One day, he began to grow hungry, as well. Food is hard to find in the 80th District, so he had no choice but to steal. The problem was, only the strongest men with swords had any food to steal. The boy was not scared, though. He had no home. No family. No friends. No purpose. No name. No food. No sword... And no fear.
He did not wait until night came to take the food. He did not bother with tricks. He walked up to the strongest of the men, and attacked with all the ferocity he had within him. He tore the man's throat out with his teeth, then took up the fallen man's sword. A ragged blade that had never been treated with any kindness. It suited the boy perfectly.
With the sword in hand, he killed the others. The blade stood as tall as the boy, but he never faltered. It was as if he had been born to carry a sword. Now he had food. Now he could grow even stronger.
Word spread that there was a terrifying murderer in Zaraki District. A child, no less. Men came from all around, hoping to kill the child and become heroes, but no one could touch him. He never spoke to those who came to fight him. He slaughtered man after man. Then, he met the woman.
She was the greatest killer that Soul Society had ever seen. Once a notorious criminal, now she served as a soldier in a band of thirteen deadly warriors. Among them, their leader was the strongest, but she alone was the most dangerous. Never in her life had she been beaten. Not once in her centuries of battle had she received a single scar. Her name was Yachiru Unohana, and she carried the title of Kenpachi.
The Kenpachi came face to face with the nameless boy as he stood atop a mountain of corpses. Covered in blood, they met for the first time.
Their battle was said to have been the most terrifying event any man had ever witnessed. In the end, even the Kenpachi was no match for the nameless child. They each scarred the other. The woman cut the child's face. The child stabbed her in the chest.
During the fight, something had changed. The boy felt fear. And in that fear, he finally felt joy. The joy of battle. Of risking ones life. Of fighting with every fiber of your being. He no longer accepted that his life was without purpose. He took up her title as his own that day. He became known far and wide as the Kenpachi of Zaraki.
He began traveling inward, fighting all the way. No one could hope to match him, though. He became bored. Next to the woman who had awakened his thirst for battle, no one could satisfy him.
He reached the Kusajishi District next. The 79th District of the northern Rukongai. There he met a nameless girl with bright pink hair. What surprised him more was that she had no fear. Just like him. His blood soaked clothes and sword did not scare her at all. When he left, they left together. She was very small, then, and he had grown to be a powerful man. She easily rode on his broad shoulders.
He gave her the name of the woman he admired and hated. The woman who had given him the joy of battle, then left him unable to be satisfied by another. Yachiru. And, in the same style as her adopted father, she took up the name of her home as well.
So, Kenpachi Zaraki and Yachiru Kusajishi began their journey together. They met two men one day. One an elegant and beautiful man, the other an arrogant warrior. The warrior challenged him, and although he fought with everything he had, he could not hope to defeat the man called Kenpachi.
However, the warrior was not killed. Kenpachi gave him a new path as a warrior. The warrior, a bald man named Ikkaku Madarame, and his friend, Yumichika Ayasegawa set off to become stronger and eventually stand beside the Kenpachi in battle again.
Eventually, after centuries of travel, Kenpachi and Yachiru finally reached Soul Society. However, a new man held the title of Kenpachi, and the woman who carried it first no longer fought. She was a healer. The nameless man of Zaraki slaughtered the man who called himself the Kenpachi of the Eleventh Division and took his place as Captain.
Not long after, the two men, Ikkaku and Yumichika, arrived and joined his Division.
Over the years, the Eleventh had always been the Gotei 13's special combat force, but under Kenpachi Zaraki, they were easily the most fearsome and most powerful Division. He appointed his daughter as his Lieutenant, and no one dared challenge the decision. Outside they may have thought him crazy, but in the Eleventh, she was respected as the second strongest in the Division. With good reason.
Ikkaku became the Third Seat, although he easily had the strength to be a Lieutenant or Captain in a lesser Division. He would rather fight alongside his hero and mentor. His friend, Yumichika, became the Fifth Seat, unwilling to take such an ugly number as four. And, as none in the Division could defeat him to take the higher seat, the Fourth Seat remained empty for years to come.
Time passed and the Kenpachi still could not find a challenge. He wore an eyepatch to devour his spiritual pressure and handicap his vision. He wore bells in his spiked hair so his enemies could hear him coming. And, unknown to himself, he began erecting mental barriers to limit himself. Weakening himself so that he could enjoy battle once again.
Then the invasion came and the Kenpachi stood face to face with an orange haired teenager. Not even a true Shinigami. A human. A substitute.
For the first time in a thousand years, the Kenpachi was truly satisfied with a battle.
Time passed, and the orange haired boy refused to fight him again. A war came, and even destroying Arrancar was not enough to make Kenpachi happy.
The war ended and peace came, for a time. The orange haired hero lost his powers and left Soul Society as a human.
Seventeen months later, he regained his power. There was hope for another battle for the Kenpachi.
Then a new war came. The Thousand Year Blood War. And finally, Kenpachi was able to face her once again. She fought him to the edge of death over and over, healing him each time, and slowly breaking down the limits in his mind. She taught him how to fight once again. How to fear. How to love battle.
She died, leaving him in a world without an equal.
The Kenpachi finally heard the nameless sword he carried calling out to him. He finally learned its name. The battlefield shook when he called out to it. The sky fell when it answered him.
Drink, Nozarashi!
The Weather Beaten One. A fitting name, for both Zanpakuto and Shinigami.
The war came to an end at long last, but there was still one battle left. The Kenpachi's final battle.
He spent the next weeks and months meditating. Every chance, he would fall in to his inner world and speak with his sword. No one will ever know what they discussed. Maybe they fought day and night. Maybe the Kenpachi wept for the death of the woman who made him who he was.
Feeling abandoned by her father, Yachiru went alone to face five Sternritters on her own. Ferocious though she was, she only killed two before they overpowered her. More than an average captain could have done, certainly.
Kenpachi came too late. His wrath was terrible. The world witnessed his fury made manifest with a single word. Bankai.
For all the terror of the Kenpachi's final release, on the handle of his weapon, among the blood stained white bandages that wrapped the hilt, there was a single pink ribbon.
The three Sternritter fought to the bitter end. When all was done, they were reduced to nothingness, but the Kenpachi was gravely wounded. Perhaps, had they brought the Fourth Division with them, he could have been saved. Instead, he turned to his Third Seat and asked for a final fight. He wanted his loyal friend to take his place.
Ikkaku released his Bankai and struck the final blow. The Kenpachi of Zaraki was dead. Ikkaku Madarame became the Captain of the Eleventh and the Kenpachi. Zaraki and Yachiru were carried back to Soul Society on the backs of the Eleventh Division.
Their bodies were burnt and their ashes buried in the training grounds of their Division. Their swords were made into a monument to their memory. It still stands in the training grounds today.
So ends the story of the greatest warrior Soul Society has ever seen.