Mission Rank: B
Team: Squad 7 — Led by Jōnin Kurobo Hōzuki
Objective: Intercept and eliminate a small Kumo scouting unit near the Lightning-Mist border.
Kenpachi was only thirteen now. A genin in name, but a creature in nature. His teammates feared him. His sensei watched him carefully. The mist called him "that boy," like naming him would be invoking something cursed.
It was his first official mission. And his first chance to kill outside the Academy walls.
But something was off.
The "scouting unit" wasn't just a few careless shinobi. When Squad 7 arrived at the rendezvous point, they found themselves ambushed—outnumbered, chakra-suppressed, and on enemy terrain.
Kurobo ordered a retreat.
Kenpachi ignored him.
Instead, he lunged into the mist like it was calling him home, fists swinging, eyes alight. He didn't see enemies. He saw opportunity. He saw battle.
And then—he met her.
A Kumo kunoichi—maybe sixteen or seventeen. Tall. Muscular. With lightning crackling across her fists and a predator's grin to match his own.
"You're the one they said kills with his hands," she said, eyes narrowing. "Good. I like a challenge."
She moved like thunder. Fast. Unrelenting. Her chakra-enhanced strikes split trees. And for the first time in his short, savage life—Kenpachi was on the back foot.
She cracked a rib with her first hit. Drew blood from his mouth with her second.
Kenpachi froze.
Then… he smiled.
Blood trickled down his cheek, and he laughed—a deep, unhinged, joy-soaked laugh.
"You made me bleed," he said, voice trembling with delight. "Good."
He lunged again, faster this time. Her fist met his. Bone splintered. His. But he didn't stop.
He kept pushing, even as lightning scorched his skin. Even as her knee shattered against his stomach. His vision blurred. His ear rang.
And he kept laughing.
It was a dance of pain. Of brutality. And for the first time, Kenpachi wasn't the predator hunting prey. He was the beast who found another beast.
But eventually… he won.
Not with a jutsu. Not with strategy. But through sheer will and obsession. He took everything she threw at him and gave it back with double the force. When she finally fell, gasping and broken, he stood over her, covered in blood—his and hers—and whispered:
"Thank you."
He didn't kill her. He wanted to. But some instinct—some strange, unfamiliar voice—told him: No. This one… you'll fight again.
He walked back to his squad alone, body wrecked, but smiling like a mad god. Kurobo stared at him, horrified. His teammates looked away.
"You disobeyed a direct order," Kurobo said coldly.
Kenpachi wiped blood from his lip. "I didn't disobey," he said. "I just… didn't feel like listening."
The report to the Mizukage was filed with a single sentence:
"The boy is unstable. But effective."
Gengetsu laughed when he read it. "He's not unstable. He's just finally having fun."