[Samsara] Chapter 5 - Kenpachi

After their honest conversation, a wall seemed to have shattered between them. And once Naruto revealed his true intentions, and spoke what was on his mind, Shihouin Chika became even more accommodating than before.

“Before you reassign me to the Detention Unit, could you arrange first for someone to teach me some Healing Kido?”

“Sure. I could ask Momatsu to show you a thing or two, but he’s not that skilled at it himself.”

Naijishi Momatsu was the one who healed Naruto’s flesh wounds an hour ago, when he just returned from his mission. He was not a seated officer but he was one of the only three Shinigami from Squad 2 who knew how to use Kaido. 

Kaido, also known as Healing Kido, was a relatively new concept for Shinigami. It had been invented only a few decades ago, not long before the Quincy War, by a skilled Shinigami named Tenjiro Kirinji. 

“No, better yet, if you’re going to learn Healing Kido, you should learn it from the best,” Chika said, nodding to himself.

“You mean-”

“Yes. Follow me. We’re going to the Eleventh Division.”

As he followed the dark-skinned captain out of the office, he hesitated before asking:

“Are you sure this is a good idea? The Captain-level Shinigami who attacked me today was a woman. There are only two Captain-level women in Gotei now. . .”

“I already told you: if Unohana-san wanted you dead, you’d be dead. She wouldn’t need to ambush you. She would walk straight into Second Division’s barracks, kill you in front of my eyes, and there wouldn’t be a single thing I could do to stop her. Aside from Captain Commander, no one in the Gotei can match her. She even killed some of her subordinates when they angered her. And her Zanpakutō doesn’t grant invisibility.”

Making use of their Flash Step, the two of them arrived at Squad 11’s headquarters in seconds.

Noticing the stupid look on his own captain’s face, Naruto felt like facepalming when he realised what was actually going on.

“This isn’t about me learning healing Kido from the best… You just wanted a pretext to talk to her, didn’t you?”

But Shihouin quickly covered Naruto’s mouth, muffling most of his words. For the first time in ten years, Naruto saw his captain becoming flustered. 

“What brings you here today, Shihouin-dono?” Unohana asked, her voice as serene as ever. 

With her long, lustrous black hair falling freely over her white haori, and with her fair skin and her pretty face, Unohana looked like the embodiment of beauty and elegance as she stood on a bridge and scattered feed to the koi fish in the pond.

It was not difficult to understand why his captain was smitten with her. But to Naruto, due to his Negative Emotions Sensing, Unohana Yachiru looked more like a demon wearing human skin instead of a pure and elegant beauty. The savage killing intent lying dormant under that delicate appearance made his hair stand on end.

Knowing that the Kenpachi was not like other women he had interacted with, Shihouin didn’t waste his time with superfluous greetings and flowery words.

“Unohana-san, I would like to request that you take my subordinate under your wing and instruct him in the way of Kaido.”

Unohana brought a delicate finger to her chin, seemingly in thought. 

“Very well, I could do that,” she said after a while. “However, I have a condition.”

Naruto and Chika exchanged a glance. 

“The Captain Commander asked me to apprehend the criminal who has been causing unrest in Rukongai lately. In exchange for teaching your subordinate Healing Kido, I want you to deal with that. I feel like you would have an easier time finding and capturing him thanks to Onmitsukido’s information network.”

To his credit, Shihouin did not reply right away, appearing to hesitate.

“Do you have any other information about him?”

“Not much is known. But we do know that it is a young man and that he has been targeting various gangs, leaving a trail of corpses as he moved from one district to another. He needs to be dealt with soon.”

Shihouin glanced a second time at Naruto, who shrugged his shoulders as if to say that it was entirely up to him.

“Understood. It is not a bad exchange. However, I would like to add a condition of my own.”

Captain Unohana tilted her head, intrigued. 

“In addition to teaching Uzumaki Naruto Healing Kido, I would like to invite you to have a meal with me.”

“Oh, my!” Unohana exclaimed, covering her mouth with her hand.

Going by the spike of anxiety he sensed from Chika, Naruto understood that his captain was afraid that he may have overstepped his boundaries. But he couldn't feel any negative emotions from Unohana. Her reaction was not one of indignation but surprise.

“You wish to have a meal with me? Why is that?”

As Unohana asked that question, Naruto leaned imperceptibly closer to Chika.

"Go for it," he whispered, his voice so quiet that even Shihoin, who was next to him, barely heard him.

Emboldened by his unexpected encouragement, Shihouin’s anxiety vanished like a miracle, and he gave Unohana one of those roguish smiles of his that had made him famous among the women of Seireitei.

“Because it would be a privilege to spend my time in the company of a captivating lady such as yourself.”

Naruto scratched his cheek, feeling embarrassed to witness their flirting, but it appeared that Shihouin knew exactly what he was doing because Unohana Yachiru's fair complexion became slightly pink. 

‘Was she that weak to compliments?’ he said to himself. ‘Well, I guess it would make sense. If even half the rumours circulating about her are true, I wouldn’t be surprised if this is the first time someone asked her out.’

⁂

Shihouin Chika was jubilant as they left the barracks of Squad 11. They did not Flash Step on their way back, choosing instead to walk back by foot, slowly.

“I will be honest with you; if you hadn’t told me to go for it, I would have chickened out.”

Naruto chuckled at his choice of words. 

“Now you can’t say I never did anything for you anymore.”

Chika punched him good-naturedly in the shoulder.

“How did you know she wasn’t angry? I thought I’d have to run for my life after I asked her out.”

Considering Unohan’s reputation, it was not surprising to hear him say that. He snickered again at Chika’s expense.

“If you’re that afraid of Captain Unohana, why go for her of all people? You could have anyone you wanted. Seireitei is full of your fangirls."

Chika sighed in dismay.

“If you have to ask such a question, it proves to me that you don’t see the vision.”

“What vision? You said it yourself, she’s a madwoman.”

Shihouin waved his hand off at him. 

“You don’t get it.”

“I don’t get what? Not wanting to walk on eggshells around someone who may or may not kill me if she woke up on the wrong side of the bed one morning?”

One of Naruto’s eyes started twitching in annoyance when he saw his captain shake his head at him and sigh exaggeratedly.

“You’re still young and dumb. Once you get older, you’ll understand a lot better the appeal of a lady like Unohana-san. There’s just something different about a beautiful and powerful woman who could kick your ass.”

“You forgot to say violent and unhinged,” the blond retorted, only for Shihouin to say:

“That’s like the icing on the cake.”

⁂

Unohana Yachiru ended up agreeing to Shihouin Chika’s terms, promising that she would have a meal with him but only after he apprehended the killer from Rukongai.

It had to be said that Shihouin Chika’s behaviour when he was motivated was a sight to behold. The otherwise laid-back and lazy captain had mobilised the entirety of the Stealth Force to find the culprit, and less than three hours later, his subordinates had already found his location for him.

“Osamu, send someone to bring the Fifth Seat, Uzumaki, to my office,” Shihouin said as he started signing various papers without even looking at their contents, eager to finish the paperwork as soon as possible.

The person in question was a middle-aged man wearing the traditional black shihakusho and his zanpakuto at his waist. He was a man of average build, with a square face, and he wore his black hair in a chonmage style. He looked like a serious and no-nonsense type of person who valued duty and traditions, making a stark contrast with his captain.

“Did something happen?” Osamu asked. 

“The Fifth Seat and I have something to do in Rukongai. Don’t fret over it,” Chika said.

With his attention focused on signing the paperwork, Chika seemed not to notice the way Osamu’s jaw muscles bulged as he clenched his teeth.

“Understood,” he said calmly before leaving the office to follow his orders.

One minute later, he returned and said:

“Uzumaki Naruto should arrive in 10 minutes. He was taking a shower when I went to his quarters.”

“That’s fine,” Chika replied.

A few minutes passed in silence, only the sound of Chika’s quill scratching the paper and that of Osamu moving stacks of paperwork being heard in the office.

“Shihouin-taicho.”

“Yes?”

“If I may ask, why are you paying so much attention to the Fifth Seat?”

Chika raised his eyes from the paperwork to look at Osamu. 

“Are you envious?”

The man immediately bowed deeply, from the waist.

“I apologise,” he said in a loud voice. “I just don't understand why an esteemed person such as yourself would be concerned with the likes of him.”

“Stop bowing, man. You know I don’t care about formalities.”

“I could never be disrespectful to one of such noble lineage!” Osamu spoke in the same loud voice, still bowing from the waist.

“Forget it,” Shihouin said, palming his forehead as he sighed. “But to answer your question, that’s because he’s an extremely capable Shinigami. He is someone I value.”

Noticing the way Osamu clenched his fists, he asked:

“Do you think it’s unfair for me to pay him so much attention?”

“Is he more capable than me, your Lieutenant? Am I not good enough?” Osamu said. 

“He is much stronger than you, indeed.”

Osamu raised his head at that moment and looked him in the eyes.

“With all due respect, Captain, I refuse to believe it!”

The dark-skinned captain smirked as an idea came to his mind. 

“How about you test it, hm?”

Not expecting Shihouin Chika to suggest something like that, Osamu hesitated before answering.

“. . . It would be unbecoming of my position to challenge a lower-ranked officer to a duel with no good reason. My personal bias aside, Uzumaki Naruto has not broken any rules. He has been fulfilling his duties as a member of the Second Division with no faults. It would paint a bad image on myself and the Second Division as a whole if I were to bully the weaker members with my position.”

Shihouin shrugged his shoulders. 

“Osamu, you’ve been my Lieutenant for over a decade. You should know me by now. I don’t care about what others think,” he said, chuckling a bit. “And I’m sure Naruto wouldn’t mind the challenge either.”

⁂

“Yo, captain, what do you need?” Naruto asked and raised his hand in greeting when he entered Chika’s office.

The Second Squad Lieutenant already had it out for Naruto as it was. Hearing his disrespectful manner of speech made him explode:

“Uzumaki Naruto! You are in front of the Captain! Where are your manners?” Osamu shouted at him.

Naruto glanced his way. Two negative emotions stood out like a sore thumb when he focused his senses on him.

“Um, sure,” he said easily, not feeling like getting into an argument over stupid things with him. The Lieutenant had never liked him, from the first day.

But his flippant answer was like pouring oil on a fire. Osamu’s anger flared.

“It appears that, as the Lieutenant of the Second Division, I will have to teach you some manners.”

Naruto looked at Osamu as though he was mentally challenged. 

“I don’t hear the captain saying anything, so why are you bitching about it? You have a problem with me?”

He may have wanted to avoid unnecessary conflicts, but that didn’t mean he was alright with letting another Shinigami treat him like dirt.

“It’s your attitude that I have a problem with!” Osamu shouted. “Follow me to the training grounds. I have already received permission from the captain.”

When Naruto glanced at Chika, his voice rang in his head:

“Take this chance to teach him a lesson and prove your strength. Become my Lieutenant.”

Knowing what Naruto was about to say just by looking at his facial expression, Shihouin continued:

“Your enemy already knows what you’re capable of, so there’s no point in hiding your strength anymore, is there? Take this chance to advance in rank. Your goal was to change Seireitei, was it not? That’s the first step. Only when you’re recognised for your strength and position will your words have weight.”

Naruto remained quiet while Chika talked to him telepathically, but his silence appeared to have sent the wrong message to Osamu.

“Are you ignoring me?!” the Lieutenant screamed, his hand going to the hilt of his sword. “You think I won’t cut you down where you stand?”

Naruto let out a sigh. 

“What a pain in the ass. Quit whining and let’s go already.”

It took Osamu every ounce of self-control he had not to draw out his sword right then and there.

⁂

Naruto didn’t know whether it was Chika’s doing or the Lieutenant’s doing, but when they arrived at the training ground of the Second Division, the field was packed with hundreds of men and women, all of them members of their squad. It seemed like the one who organised their little duel wanted everyone to watch his battle with the Lieutenant. 

“Draw out your zanpakuto,” Osamu said in a warning tone as he unsheathed his own weapon.

“I won’t be needing it,” Naruto said calmly. 

His answer infuriated Osamu to the point where his face turned livid. The chorus of "oohs" and "aahs" coming from the men and women spectating on the sidelines only exacerbated that feeling. 

Chika grinned like a cat who ate the canary, giddy with excitement to see the shitshow unfold. 

“Are you both ready?”

“Yes,” the two replied.

“If someone gives up or is incapacitated, the duel ends. If I say stop, you stop. These are the only rules. Fight!” Chika said and stepped back.

Osamu glared at Naruto as he held his sword straight in front of him.

“I am going to beat that smug and unrepentant attitude out of you. I will make you understand that, as a member of the Second Squad, there are laws, rules, and traditions that you need to respect. Nobody is exempt from that. Not me, and certainly not you.”

Once the Lieutenant finished said those words, a monstrous reiatsu blanketed the training ground, and except for Shihouin Chika, who was a Captain, all other Shinigami let out cries of shock as they collapsed on their knees. Eyes wide, with their faces pale and breaking into a sweat, dozens of Shinigami were unable to bear with that spiritual pressure, falling unconscious.

That reiatsu was not coming from the Lieutenant. . . he was collapsed on the ground as well, on his hands and knees, looking as though it was taking him all he had not to fall flat on his face.

It was Naruto's reiatsu.

Shihouin Chika was inwardly startled as well. He had suspected all along that the blond's reiatsu might have surpassed his own, but seeing it was believing it.

Naruto stopped exerting his power a few moments later, but the unfamiliar Captain-level spiritual pressure was felt by the entirety of Seireitei, not just by the Second Division’s members, proof of that being the other squads’ Captains arriving in the skies above the training ground.

Noticing how everyone except for Shihouin Chika and the blond young man was lying on the ground, unable to stand, it was not difficult for them to deduce whose spiritual pressure they had felt.

One of the newly arrived captains, a tall and burly man with shaggy brown hair and prominent sideburns, landed on the ground and waved his hand at Chika. 

“Danjiro-san. What brings you here?”

"You really have to ask? Since when did you have a monster like that among your subordinates?” the tall man asked in a loud voice.

“I guess the mystery of how that crazy runt died in Rukongai ten years ago has been solved,” said another captain, a gaunt-looking man with grey skin who wore a fur-collared shihakusho under his white haori. His pointy moustache and sharp goatee, coupled with his pale and sickly appearance, gave him a peculiar look.

Two other captains showed up, including Unohana Yachiru, whom they had just visited, and the new Captain of the Tenth Division, who had replaced the now-dead Uhin Zenjōji, a bald man who was just as fat as his predecessor. But Naruto barely noticed the new captain’s arrival, his attention being focused entirely on Unohana, who wasn’t even trying to hide her thirst for battle. 

Fortunately, at that moment, as if he had predicted that things were going to devolve into a battle in the middle of Seireitei, the Captain Commander himself showed up. 

⁂

Thanks to Yamamoto’s arrival, the Captains went back to their barracks, and Naruto and Chika could go back to their business. 

Even though most of his subordinates were still passed out, Shihouin took Naruto and left right away, heading towards Rukongai. 

“You really can’t wait for that date with Captain Unohana, eh?” 

"Can you blame me? I've been waiting for a chance like this for years!"

They chuckled a bit.

"By the way, Captain. How did you speak directly into my mind without your Lieutenant hearing it?"

"You're my Lieutenant now, you dunce. But, to answer your question, that's for me to know and for you to find out."

Chika laughed, very pleased with himself at the glare Naruto directed at him.

"You started training only 10 years ago; you're still a baby Shinigami. There is much for you to learn."

"I wish to learn, so tell me already," Naruto said impatiently.

The dark-skinned Captain stopped making fun of him and gave him a real answer:

"It's not difficult. You can do it through your reiatsu. I'll show you how to do it once we get back to Seireitei. For now, less talking, more running,” Chika said, and he increased the speed of his Shunpo, forcing Naruto to go all out in order to keep up with him.

Their surroundings turned into blurs as the two of them ran at Naruto’s maximum speed. 

As Shihouin suddenly came to a stop, Naruto halted his Shunpo too. He only needed one glance at his surroundings to understand why his captain had stopped: two or three dozen corpses were piled up like a small hill in the middle of the street. 

They weren’t only Rukongai people. Naruto could even recognise a few Shinigami uniforms among the victims. 

“Either he’s supremely confident in his strength, or he’s a complete madman to go wild in a district as close to Seireiei as this,” said Chika. 

Going by the fact that most corpses still had their hands clenched around the hilts of their weapons, it appeared that the information they had received from Captain Unohana was not wrong. Regular people did not have weapons; whoever was the killer, he seemed to go after the gangs, leaving the regular people alone. 

The two did not linger. Captain Shihouin started Shunpo-ing even faster than before, to the point where Naruto had difficulty keeping up with him. The blond was no slouch in his movement techniques, but Shihouin’s speed was something special even among captains. Nobody in Seireitei could rival him in that area. 

Eventually, the sounds of battle reached their ears, and they changed their course, rushing in that new direction. 

“Come at me together!” a joyful shout could be heard over the screams of pain, anger, and terror coming from the dozens of men facing him. “I’ll take on all of you at once, weaklings!”

Naruto and Chika watched in disbelief how a skinny, malnourished boy seemingly no older than 15 took on more than eight grown men at once and bisected them all from the waist with a wide slash of his sword. 

“M-Monster!”

“Run!”

Recognising the kanji painted on the back of their robes, Chika understood that they were part of the leading gang from the Sakahone district.

“We aren’t done fighting just yet!” the boy yelled, and his body seemed to turn into a blur as he charged at the fleeing men. 

However, just as he swung his sword to reap the life of one more person, Shihouin Chika appeared in front of him with a Flash Step and parried his hit with his zanpakuto.

The boy’s face was twisted by a wide grin when he realised that the man was strong enough to parry his hit. 

“You’re different from those weaklings, aren’t you?”

Feeling the enormous weight of his sword, Shihouin’s face turned serious.

“You’ve run wild long enough, boy,” Chika said, and he kicked him in the gut, sending him flying backwards with great momentum.

But the boy flipped and righted his body in mid-air before throwing himself at the dark-skinned captain once again.

Shihouin’s yellow eyes widened when he felt the monstrous strength behind his swing. He was actually on the losing end! Although he was in disbelief, Chika reacted quickly and changed the angle of his parry, making the boy’s sword slide off to the side.

Faster than the boy could perceive, Shihouin jabbed him twice in the face and then elbowed him in the temple, twisting his head to the side. The kid had yet to recover from Chika's Hakuda combo when another kick, this time to the back of the head, sent him rolling and tumbling for two dozen metres before he crashed into a nearby building, demolishing it. 

“He’s powerful,” Chika said in a grave voice.

Despite not taking the fight lightly and putting his entire strength into it, hitting that boy felt like punching steel, not flesh. 

After Naruto killed Furofushi Saito ten years ago despite being just a regular Rukongai soul, with no training and not even a zanpakuto at his disposal, Chika had resolved himself not to blindly underestimate anyone in Rukongai anymore. But actually meeting someone that powerful himself was still shocking.

The ruins of the demolished building were blasted off as a tremendous reiatsu exploded from within, and the boy walked out with his long zanpakuto in hand, a mad, twisted expression of glee on his face. No a scratch could be seen on his skin.

He let out a battle cry and his speed was on par with that of a Captain-level shinigami as he charged at Chika again. He chopped with his long zanpakuto wildly, as though it were an axe, not a sword, and the dark-skinned Captain was cut in half brutally. . . or so it had seemed. 

The body that the boy had cut turned out to be an afterimage. It was a Hoho technique named Utsusemi.

The kid was still trying to make sense of what had just happened when a sword impaled him in the back and pierced through the other side, through his chest. 

“It’s over, boy,” Chika said. 

But when he tried to pull his sword out of his body, to his stupefaction, he couldn’t. His zanpakuto was stuck, not budging even an inch.

The boy turned his head, a maniacal grin on his face. It seemed as though Chika’s stab had missed his heart.

It was only due to the instincts he had honed over centuries of battle and thanks to his transcendent speed that Shihouin managed to jump back, just barely avoiding the boy’s sword slash when he suddenly twisted his body and swung his zanpakuto at him.

Even so, the boy’s swing had sliced Chika’s shihakusho open, revealing his chest. If he had been a split second late, he would have sported a gruesome wound now. 

Unfortunately, although he had escaped, he was now disarmed. Chika’s sword was still impaled in the boy’s torso.

As the kid turned around to face him, the Captain realised why he had been unable to pull his sword out of his body: the boy had clenched one of his hands around the blade of the zanpakuto protruding from his chest. His monstrous physical strength had prevented the captain from retrieving his weapon. 

The words that the fleeing gangsters had used to describe him could not be any truer at that moment: with blood pouring out of his mouth, a sword sticking out of his chest, and a deranged grin on his face, he truly looked like a monster.

Completely ignoring the long katana impaled in his chest, he threw himself at Chika with wild abandon.

At the last moment, however, Naruto appeared in front of his captain with a blur of speed and raised his hand.

“Hado #58: Tenran!” (Tornado)

It was a Kido spell not that different from the wind technique from his past life, Great Breakthrough.



A vortex of wind almost as large as a real-life tornado burst from his palm, and the boy was hurled back uncontrollably, smashing through two houses before his body finally came to a stop, making a deep human imprint into a wall.

“How did you get disarmed? Did you underestimate him?” Naruto asked after blowing the kid away with his Kido. 

“No, I didn’t,” Chika said gravely. “I didn’t get to activate my Shikai or Bankai, but other than that, I fought him seriously. His strength is ridiculous. I couldn’t pull my zanpakuto out of his body.”

Their conversation was cut short as the boy’s reiatsu exploded once more, this time with even more strength than before. A deranged laugh came from the boy as he jumped out of the ruined house a second time that day. 

“Another strong foe!” he yelled out in glee. 

Naruto unleashed his power as well and their reiatsu clashed violently, neither side gaining an advantage. 

“You’re actually even stronger!" the boy said, and he pulled Chika’s sword out of his own chest.

Normally, using another shinigami’s zanpakuto was unthinkable because the spirit of the sword would resist a foreign wielder and increase its weight enormously, but the boy appeared to defy common sense. 

Now, with one zanpakuto in each hand, he started running towards the Shinigami, bloodlust rolling off him in waves. 

Thankfully, all civilians had evacuated the surroundings before the two of them arrived when the boy started his massacre. Therefore, Naruto wasn’t worried about harming innocent bystanders. 

Shihouin Chika took the initiative to cast a Kido spell of his own. 

“Bakudo #61: Rikujokoro!” (Six Rods Prison of Light)



Six beams of light came from Chika’s palms, but before they could restrain the boy, he swung his sword at them. The spell shattered into countless specks of light under the enormous strength of his swing. 

Unfortunately for the boy, he had not expected the blond shinigami to also cast a spell of his own at the same time.

“Bakudo #63: Sajo Sabaku!” (Ethereal Binding Chain)

Golden chains were conjured seemingly out of thin air, and they coiled around the boy’s body, locking him in place.



The kid let out a scream and thrashed like a rabid beast, and, to Naruto and Chika’s stupor, the golden chains shattered under his brute strength.

A split second later, Naruto was forced to unsheathe his zanpakuto to block the boy’s savage attack.

The ground under his feet shattered from the force behind the boy's swing, but the blond stood his ground, not backing away.

The boy raised his other arm to chop at the blond with Chika’s zanpakuto, but an orb of spiritual energy appeared in Naruto’s left hand faster than the boy could swing his sword down.

He thrust the deadly orb straight into the boy’s face, and his body shot back violently, rotating in the air uncontrollably.

He had yet to even crash down when Naruto shouted:

“Bakudō #79: Kuyō Shibari” (Nine Sun Bind)

Eight spheres of spiritual energy appeared around the boy and one in front of his chest, but, unlike the name of the spell suggested, they were not bright and luminous. They were dark purple, and even the monstrous boy found himself completely immobilised by their force field.



In an action that defied all common sense, the boy suddenly roared, and his reiatsu exploded out of his body with greater intensity than ever before. The Nine Sun Bind spell started twisting as he attempted to destroy his bindings through sheer, brute strength. 

Not allowing him the time to break free, Naruto Flash Stepped to his immobilised form and placed his hand on his face before saying:

“Inemuri.” (Forced Slumber)

It was the same method that Captain Unohana had used to subdue Naruto ten years ago when he attacked her. 

The boy’s eyes closed against his will, and the maniacal expression on his face receded, turning into a neutral, peaceful look befitting someone his apparent age. He fell unconscious.