The current captain of the 11th Division was a black, rotund man named "Kiganjō Kenpachi."
He was a thoroughly unlikable person with a terrible reputation.
Whether within the Gotei 13 or even inside his own 11th Division, there was hardly anyone who had a favorable opinion of him.
Even before joining the Gotei 13, Naruto had already heard about him from Hirako Shinji.
Shinji's evaluation of him was: "How could such an idiot become a captain?"
Even Captain Ukitake and Uncle Kyoraku showed troubled expressions whenever they mentioned this "Kenpachi," often stammering without being able to say a single positive thing about him.
After becoming a captain himself and interacting with him, Naruto found that Shinji's description was spot-on.
As Naruto watched Zaraki Kenpachi leave, he felt very confident in the man.
That guy named "Kiganjō" couldn't possibly be his match.
And sure enough, in less than an hour, the news arrived—
Zaraki Kenpachi had cut down Kiganjō.
In front of all the division members, he killed him.
But this wasn't considered a crime.
The 11th Division was the most unique squad in all of Soul Society.
While other divisions required captains to go through evaluations and approvals to be appointed, the 11th Division—as a combat division—had an entirely different rule: the strongest fighter became the captain and earned the title "Kenpachi."
From that day on, the leadership of the 11th Division changed hands, with Zaraki Kenpachi taking the role.
As for all the havoc he'd caused before—storming into Soul Society without permission, injuring dozens of Shinigami, destroying large areas of buildings—
These were grave crimes for an ordinary soul. But for someone with the title of Captain, they became mere inconveniences.
Yamamoto, the Head Captain, ultimately ruled that Zaraki Kenpachi must bear all the medical and rehabilitation costs for the wounded Shinigami and pay for the reconstruction of the destroyed area—a sum equivalent to at least 50 or 60 years' worth of captain salary.
But Zaraki Kenpachi didn't care. Money meant nothing to him.
If he ever went hungry, he'd just freeload meals. The 4th Division and 7th Division were good places for that.
Surprisingly, the pink-haired little girl named Yachiru Kusajishi by his side became his vice-captain. It wasn't favoritism on Zaraki's part—she earned the position by cutting her way up from the Fifth Seat, defeating the former vice-captain with just three slashes and sending him straight to the 4th Division. That guy was now considering transferring out.
All things considered, the 11th Division suffered the most during this incident—the former captain died, and six to seven seated officers were severely injured.
But Zaraki Kenpachi and Yachiru's arrival brought new life to Soul Society.
Though that "life force" wasn't exactly endearing.
The 7th and 10th Divisions were the most troubled, racking their brains on how to keep the new 11th Division captain inside his squad barracks instead of wandering around wielding his sword and challenging every captain or vice-captain he saw to a duel.
By comparison—
That vice-captain who also wandered the streets seemed much more lovable.
She only played pranks, and could be appeased with some candy.
It was just a bit of a pity.
Such a cute little girl, why was she following someone like Zaraki Kenpachi? Wouldn't it be better if she stayed with Captain Uzumaki?
Naruto was the one most troubled by all this.
He really didn't want to keep fighting Zaraki Kenpachi right now.
The power wrapped in "Asura" had already been fully fed in their last fight and now needed time to be digested.
Instead of pointless battles, Naruto preferred to use this digestion period to continue his studies on the Four Symbols Seal and Space-Time Ninjutsu.
But Zaraki Kenpachi… didn't seem to share this idea.
7th Division Captain's Office.
Bang! The door was kicked open.
Zaraki Kenpachi's eager, feral face appeared: "Uzumaki! Come fight me!"
"Let's continue our battle!"
Yachiru was floating off his shoulder, holding onto his captain's haori to avoid being flung off.
"This is the seventh door this month," Naruto looked up and sighed.
Zaraki waved his sword. "Don't worry about that kind of thing!"
"Just take it from my salary!"
"You still owe Soul Society fifty-seven years," Naruto said with a blank expression.
"Then take it from mine," Yachiru said seriously, poking her head out from behind Zaraki.
Naruto shook his head and pulled out a can of konpeitō (sugar candies) from his drawer.
Yachiru's eyes sparkled, and she cheerfully pounced over. "You're such a good guy, Sunny!"
"Let's fight already!" Zaraki urged again. "Let the Third Seat handle all the meaningless stuff!"
Naruto paused for a moment and looked back and forth between the two of them.
A captain and a vice-captain who just wandered around and hardly dealt with internal affairs.
Their Third Seat must be suffering.
"I've got other things to do," Naruto shook his head. "If we must fight…"
He checked the energy in his inner world—that still-ripening power.
"It'll take a while to digest this energy."
Zaraki looked at him expectantly, just waiting for the rest of the sentence—almost ready to grab the blonde kid out from behind the desk.
"One year from now," Naruto said finally.
Zaraki's face fell. "One year?"
That was far too long—his fighting spirit was already burning.
"You can go challenge the other captains," Naruto offered.
Zaraki's expression dropped further. "The interesting ones don't want to fight me. The rest…"
He shook his head regretfully. "Not every captain is as fun as you."
"And not every captain is like you."
"I thought the one with the title 'Kenpachi' would be stronger…"
He sounded disappointed.
Kiganjō had gone down too easily—it only took a few strikes to kill him.
"There's still one captain you haven't tried," Naruto suggested. "You could go see the Head Captain."
Zaraki froze. "Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni?"
"The Head Captain is a very kind elder who loves mentoring the younger generation," Naruto said, eyes narrowing into a smile. "Go find him."
"One year later, we'll fight again."
Zaraki readily agreed: "It's a deal. Where's the 1st Division barracks?"
Naruto pointed in a direction.
Zaraki leaped onto the window frame, with Yachiru on his back clutching her candy tin, waving goodbye.
Except…
They had just left the room.
Naruto had just pointed them in the correct direction.
Yet somehow, once they landed outside, they peeked around—then rushed off in the complete opposite direction.
Evening.
At the izakaya (Japanese pub).
Under the influence of Kyoraku and the others, Naruto had developed the habit of coming here during his downtime. Of course, he didn't drink alcohol—only milk or juice.
Gin and Byakuya were also present.
They didn't visit as frequently as Naruto.
Gin didn't like interacting with anyone other than Naruto.
As for Byakuya, being the heir of the noble Kuchiki family, it wasn't appropriate for him to be seen in such places too often.
"In a while, the 6th Division will go on a suppression mission," Byakuya said, his tone a bit heavy.
Gin smirked and asked teasingly, "The 6th Division still does missions?"
A normal question, but coming from him, it sounded mocking.
Byakuya narrowed his eyes and replied coldly, "Of course. The 6th Division has its duties and responsibilities."
Naruto found it intriguing.
The 6th Division was known as the "Noble Division," tasked with guarding nobles and Central 46. Within Soul Society, their jurisdiction only covered a single "Noble Street."
But honestly—
He'd never seen them actually do any missions.
Their members were almost always just sitting in the barracks.
"The 6th Division isn't just raising freeloaders," Byakuya continued. "Unlike other divisions, we don't have heavy mission loads, so we schedule regular in-house missions—such as going to the World of the Living to eliminate excessive Hollows as real-combat training."
"Will you be going too?" Naruto asked, finishing half his glass of milk.
Byakuya shook his head. "I'm at the most critical stage of mastering my Bankai. I can't spare the time. My grandfather and father don't think I should go either."
"This time, my father will lead the mission."
"His condition has been worsening lately."
He was clearly worried.
His father, Kuchiki Sōjun, was the vice-captain of the 6th Division.
A gentle man, but always in poor health.
Naruto raised his hand, offering comfort: "It's just a Hollow-hunting mission in the real world. Don't worry—nothing bad will happen."
Speaking of the World of the Living, Naruto couldn't help but remember his own graduation "Soul Burial" exercise.
That time…
The Senkaimon was shut down, and a flood of high-level Hollows and even Menos Grande appeared.
If it weren't for him, the entire class might've been slaughtered.
But ever since then, nothing like that had happened again.
Surely it wouldn't happen to the 6th Division?
Besides, they had a vice-captain leading. Even if unexpected danger did arise—even if powerful Hollows or Menos appeared—it should be fine, right?
But perhaps influenced by Byakuya's mood—
Naruto also started to feel a vague sense of unease.
A week later, the 6th Division set out.
No changes were seen within Soul Society.
Until that evening.
A seated officer from the 2nd Division landed by his window, sounding anxious: "Captain Uzumaki, the Head Captain orders you to report to the 1st Division immediately."
"There's a malfunction with the Senkaimon. We've completely lost contact with the 6th Division."
Naruto stood up in an instant.
His bad feeling had come true!
"Have all the other captains been notified?" he asked, forcing himself to stay calm.
The 2nd Division officer nodded. "Yes."
Two faces flashed in Naruto's mind.
Last time something like this happened, Kurama had said there was a powerful presence near him.
So this time…
Could it be them again?
"I understand." He nodded, leapt out the window, and rushed off in one direction.
The 2nd Division officer peeked after him and quickly shouted, "Captain Uzumaki! That's not the way to the 1st Division!"
But Naruto ignored him, flash-stepping at full speed.
(End of Chapter)