As a Bleach fan, one of the most heartbreaking scenes was indeed the fight scene between Zaraki Kenpachi and Retsu Unohana. Retsu Unohana, another Captain who was killed during the infamous war against the Quincy army headed by Yhwach, was killed in the duel between the two allies for a special reason. Retsu Unohana’s death had a clear narrative purpose.
For the Gotei 13, Unohana, officially Unohana Yachiru, was the captain commander of the Fourth Division. She was the top healer among all the Shinigami, one of the most experienced and skilled captains, and the original Kenpachi. Her lieutenant was Isane Kotetsu. She had been Captain of the Eleventh Division before. She resides in Hell right now and goes by the name Shiken.
Kenpachi Zaraki serves as the Captain of the Gotei 13’s Eleventh Division. He holds this rank for the eleventh time in the history of the Kenpachi. His former lieutenant was Yachiru Kusajishi, and his present lieutenant is Ikkaku Madarame.
Kenpachi is portrayed as possibly the most horrible Captain and as the one among his peers who enjoys combat the most. By beating Kaname Tsen and Sajin Komamura, he maintains the title of Kenpachi, which designates the finest combatant of his time. Kenpachi puts limitations on himself due to his overwhelming might, such as only using one hand to wield his sword or even encasing a sizeable proportion of his Spiritual Power within his now-iconic eye patch.
You’ll uncover how and why Kenpachi murdered Unohana, and it will be bittersweet because it has a compelling story but a tragic conclusion. Please note that this post includes spoilers.
How Did The Fight Start?
Unohana is appointed by Shunsui Kyraku, the Captain-Commander of Central 46, to oversee Kenpachi’s Zanjutsu training after he loses to the infamous Yhwach Royd Lloyd. She claims that as the First Kenpachi, she is the only person who can beat him. Following the encounter, Unohana writes Lieutenant Isane a letter in which she ostensibly announces that she is not going to be able to come back. Kenpachi gives Yachiru his eyepatch as a sign that he might not be able to come back himself.
The two captains descend to Muken, the lowest level of the Central Great Underground Prison, where Shunsui grants them permission to utilize it as a training ground. Upon reaching Muken, they are met by an eternally large, plain space.
Unohana vs. Kenpachi: What Led To The Captain Unohana’s Death?
Unohana strikes Kenpachi directly many times, leaving Kenpachi bruised but unhurt. Unohana slices open Kenpachi’s neck with her own blade as Kenpachi advances at her with a vertical strike while deflecting it with her left hand. When Kenpachi slightly leans back and swings at his opponent, she steps on his wrist and prepares a descending strike of her own. When Kenpachi notices this, he flips over and kicks her in the ribs, knocking her into a nearby rock wall. Unohana launches herself off the boulder after recovering from his strike, connecting with Kenpachi as a shock wave is produced by their clashing Zanpakuto.
Unohana impales Kenpachi’s left shoulder with a concealed knife while the latter is preoccupied, but Kenpachi counterattacks her attack. Unohana criticizes Zaraki’s combat technique as sloppy, and Kenpachi responds by branding her knife trick as feeble, declaring that Zaraki is no longer the woman he once respected.
Unohana is incensed by Kenpachi’s admission of respect, so she disarms him and traps him on the other rock wall with the blade’s tip in his throat. Kenpachi inquires as to whether he has become weaker after Unohana says that she had not previously used her knives since he had previously forbidden her from doing so. He thinks back on his past and realizes that, up until meeting her, no fight had ever made him feel excited.
Kenpachi becomes aware that his blackouts are continuing while the battle goes on, but he doesn’t immediately come to. He awakens again in the air and slows his descent with one hand before finding his footing and launching himself back into the attack. Kenpachi recalls that there had only ever been one time he had blacked out while dueling, and that was when he and Unohana had previously fought. He is disturbed by the fact that he is continuously losing consciousness while never having done so before.
A short while later, Kenpachi is startled to see that he has regained consciousness and is feeling more energetic than ever. He is also holding his sword and deflecting Unohana’s blade. After briefly wondering what had just happened to him, Kenpachi pushes the thought out of his head and concentrates solely on the current battle. Unohana realizes and reveals to herself that Kenpachi won’t die since he gets stronger every time he approaches death.
Zaraki is truly superior, as one might anticipate, but what’s interesting is the burden Zaraki has put on himself. Zaraki is motivated by the idea of dying; anytime death is within eyeshot, he appears to really perk up and come alive. As if to welcome death, his actual rage and strength go unfettered, and he pulls himself back to rely on instinct, which he releases. At the beginning of the chapter, I did believe Zaraki had no chance against Unohana, but how oddly, that belief has vanished with the chapter’s conclusion.
After falling unconscious once more, Kenpachi ultimately strikes Unohana with one of his attacks after waking up in time to evade her onslaught. He observes that, unlike before, he responded to her attacks instinctively this time and that every time he regains awareness, he has a sense of rebirth. By recovering him every time he is about to die, Unohana gradually removes the limitations that Kenpachi unconsciously placed on himself, bringing him closer to achieving the level of strength that he had when he first battled her. Unohana admits that her goal is not to defeat Kenpachi but to aid him in unleashing the power he once had.
Retsu questions Kenpachi about his belief that she would die from such an attack before using her medical Kid to treat the wound fast. Retsu Unohana announces her Bankai, Minazuki, before releasing it and enveloping the area in a thick layer of black liquid.
Throughout the battle between the two Kenpachi, Zaraki frequently tumbles to the ground, and his flesh is starting to detach from his bones. Kenpachi wonders whether he has been dreaming the entire time as everything goes back to normal as the two cross their swords. Regardless of the fact that both of them were successful, neither party seems prepared to put their egos aside.
Unohana strikes Kenpachi again, jumping to dodge his counterattack as he reflects on how each of them had discovered a means to continue having fun during the battle: Kenpachi by hiding his true potential and Unohana by studying healing methods under Tenjir Kirinji. She understands that all the strength she had accumulated since their first meeting had been used solely for this conflict since, as of that exact day, she had picked him to succeed her as Kenpachi.
She claims that before being impaled with his Zanpakut, Kenpachi was the only guy in the world who could make her happy, pointing out that there cannot be two Kenpachi’s in the same era because one uses their sword to kill or raise the second person.
Unohana, who is dying, smiles and tells Kenpachi that it’s all over and accomplished. Kenpachi throws away his sword out of fear that Unohana may pass away in front of him as her Zanpakuto drops from her fading fingertips. He catches her as she falls and begs her to fight him one final time so that she won’t die. Unohana smiles as he frees her, thinking to herself how childlike he is, and tells him not to be depressed because, despite the fact that his future battles may seem like dull games to him again, he has an opponent deserving of his might, allies with whom he can compete on an equal footing, and, most importantly, his partner has also revived.
Why Did The Kenpachis Fight? Why Unohana Had To Sacrifice Herself?
Kenpachi was unable to hear Nozarashi due to an unconscious power limitation. Unohana had to engage him in a life-or-death struggle to let those limits be lifted. There could be a lot of explanations for why Nozarashi was able to speak to Kenpachi even if Yachiru wasn’t present.
His Zanpakuto Spirit may have divided into two. Perhaps Yachiru is a different manifestation of Kenpachi’s power rather than Nozarashi. Perhaps Yachiru was the one communicating with him over the phone, and she remained unaware until Kenpachi finally let go of his Zanpakuto. There has never been a perfect answer to this. Understanding that Kenpachi would be even more useful to the Gotei 13 at his greatest than she would be, Unohana essentially sacrificed herself to enable him to become powerful.
