Mirza Aaqib Beg
In the ninth episode of ‘Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War’ or ‘Bleach: Sennen Kessen-hen’ titled ‘The Drop,’ Shunsui Kyouraku learns that he has been selected as Yamamoto’s successor and appoints two lieutenants to work under him. Meanwhile, Ichigo recovers in the Soul King Palace along with Renji, who has now almost made progress as well. With the future of the Soul Society still uncertain, Kyouraku decides to get captain Zaraki trained by captain Unohana.
Kyoraku Succeeds Yamamoto
After spending time in the healing hot spring, Ichigo appears to have recovered a lot. However, Kirinji continues to force him to stay underwater with the help of Kazuhiro and Kazuo. In order to prove the efficiency of his techniques, he punches Ichigo and proves that he has already healed by now. This means that it’s now time for him to go to the next palace. Renji also wants to join Ichigo and to prove that he too is fit enough, he also withstands Kirinji’s direct punch to the gut.
Once Kirinji is convinced he sends the duo to Kirio Hikifune’s palace where the duo gets to eat as much as they like. It turns out that Hikifune is the creator of the Substitute soul also known as the alternate soul. She had intelligently, incorporated an entirely new Spiritual Pressure in Ichigo and Renji through the food she cooked for them. Now they may currently not have realized it but this has substantially increased the duo’s power levels. Since Hikifune has done her job, Ichigo and Renji are now ready to meet Ouetsu Nimaiya, the creator of Zanpakuto.
Meanwhile, in the Soul Society, Shunsui Kyouraku is appointed as the new Head Captain and immediately starts taking some important decisions. In the Central 46 Compound, he announces that Genshirou and Nanao are going to be his lieutenants. Now that the defense of the Soul Society is fragile, he decides that Unohana will teach zanjutsu to Zaraki despite the concerns that he may revolt. Unfortunately, Kyoraku feels that he does not have any other choice after losing so many people in the Quincy invasion of the Soul Society.
When Did Zaraki Give Unohana the Wound on Her Chest? How Does He Recover After Being Stabbed?
Unohana and Zaraki eventually meet each other in the eighth level of Central Great Underground Prison named Muken so that they can use the full extent of their powers. When she mentions that ordinarily non-criminals are never allowed to be there, Zaraki mocks her by reminding her that if it weren’t for their powers, they too would just be like any other criminal. It turns out that he was not lying as Unohana used to be regarded as one of the most notorious killers in Seireitei. As he continues to talk, Unohana begins to feel increasingly irritated and claims that the wound on her chest that he once gave him starts to ache whenever she hears him.
Once upon a time, Unohana was on the outskirts of Rukongai on a mission when she came across a young boy. Despite her notoriety, that boy fought her fearlessly. While he did not win the battle, he managed to leave a wound on Unohana’s chest that is still visible to this day. As you may have guessed, that young boy was none other than Kenpachi Zaraki. After their first encounter, Unohana recognized his potential and ended up joining Squad 4 as the captain. This decision eventually allowed Zaraki to move through the ranks and become captain of the 11th Division in the Gotei 13.
Interestingly, Unohana managed to get into Squad 4 as captain thanks to Tenjiou Kirinji’s help who had educated her in his medical techniques. While it is not explicitly mentioned, it appears to come in handy when Zaraki and Unohana fight each other at Central Great Underground Prison, so that the latter can learn zanjutsu. When the two start fighting, the difference in their skill becomes obvious from the very start and Unohana easily puts Zaraki under a lot of pressure. Her well-calculated attacks go through Zaraki’s defense and he loses his sword.
Then Unohana stabs him in his neck and he appears to space out for a moment and realizes that his sword is back in his hand. He does not have time to think about what happened but it is quite likely that Unohana has used her advanced knowledge of medical techniques to heal Zaraki at the moment he appeared to have spaced out. In the last moments of the episode, Unohana even mentions that Zaraki gets stronger every time he escapes death. It seems that she plans to use that insight to make the captain of the 11th Division stronger than ever before by treating him using her medical techniques after injuring him with life-threatening wounds.
Read More: Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War Episode 8 Recap and Ending, Explained
