Chapter 37: Fights all over Seireitei
Chapter 37: Fights all over Seireitei
A few hours passed, and Naruto was currently sitting on the edge of one of Seireitei's buildings, whistling a little song while happily dangling his legs in the air.
Despite looking relaxed, Naruto was ready to spring into action at any moment since below him on the street, Tatsuki was surrounded by Shinigami, which she constantly sent flying with her lava-covered hands.
While he was spectating, a blade suddenly appeared next to his neck, which he seemingly didn't even notice, and a moment later, a male voice reached Naruto's ears.
"You have quite a weird hobby. The girl down there is your comrade, right? Why aren't you helping her?"
"She isn't just my comrade; she is my girlfriend. She wanted to train in fighting large groups of armed people, so I decided to let her have a go at it. Isn't her smile while she is fighting really cute?"
The man briefly glanced at Tatsuki and noticed the battle-thirsty grin on her face, causing his eyebrows to twitch.
"Cute, huh? Guess tastes differ."
As the man was speaking, Naruto lightly turned his head, allowing him to see the person holding the blade. It was a young man with spiky black hair, sharp eyes, and the number 69 tattooed on his left cheek.
"Speaking of weird hobbies, I don't mind discussing my sexual preferences with others, but is tattooing them on your face not going a little too far?"
Naruto felt the blade on his neck twitch briefly, resulting in a small chuckle from him.
"Are you sure you are in a position to make fun of me? The only reason why your neck is still intact is that we were ordered to capture you alive if possible."
Hearing the unknown man's words, Naruto chuckled in amusement while shrugging his shoulders.
"And the only reason your blade managed to get this close to my neck is that I permitted it to reach this far."
The moment Naruto finished talking, the thumb and index finger of his left hand pinched the tip of the blade, causing the man to frown. Not really understanding what Naruto was doing, the man tried to move the blade to injure Naruto's hand, but to his surprise, the blade didn't move a single centimeter.
'Impossible! He can overpower me with just two fingers!? Is this guy above a regular Captain in strength!?'
Cold sweat started flowing down the man's back as he realized that the man in front of him could probably kill him as easily as a fly. However, before the conversation could continue, Tatsuki landed next to Naruto with a satisfied smile on her face.
"Well, that was quite a decent workout. I feel like most of them had really good skills, but most of them felt pretty rusty."
Hearing Tatsuki's words, Naruto hummed in acknowledgment while still pinching the tip of the blade.
"Since Seireitei has been very stable for a long time now, I guess quite a few people started slacking off."
"Makes sense. By the way, who is your friend?"
Naruto couldn't help but chuckle a little when Tatsuki called the person holding a blade to his neck his friend, but he didn't comment any further while letting go of the blade and standing up.
For a split second, the man wanted to cut Naruto's neck the moment Naruto let go of his blade, but the moment that thought appeared in his mind, he had a vision of his bloody corpse lying on the ground, resulting in even more cold sweat.
"We just met, and I didn't get his name yet. So, who are you? I'm Naruto, by the way."
The man briefly considered fighting to the death, but after glancing at the aftermath of Tatsuki's battle, he immediately realized that most Shinigami down there had, at worst, a broken bone or two and that there were no causalities.
He sighed deeply as he put away his sword, realizing that there was no point in charging to his death with zero chance of victory. If the invaders attacked Seireitei, slaughtering everything that got in their way, he would sacrifice his life without a single second of hesitation, but the people in front of him clearly had no intentions of doing that kind of damage.
"*Sigh* I'm Shuhei Hisagi, liutnant of the 9th Division. I know I'm not your match, and I'm willing to just let you go since I can't stop you anyway, but I won't give you any information about Seireitei, no matter what you do."
Naruto nodded in understanding as he briefly glanced at Tatsuki, causing him to smirk mischievously.
"Well, that's fine, but how about a little bet?"
"A bet?"
Obviously, Shuheiwas a little confused by Naruto's words but continued listening with a little bit of curiosity in his eyes. So far, pretty much nothing was known about the invaders, so the chance to possibly get some information was something he would like to have.
"Yes, a bet. You fight Tatsuki in a one-on-one battle and if you win I'll... Answer three of your questions truthfully, and if Tatsuki wins... mhh... How about you tell us Rukia's location?"
As soon as Naruto finished speaking, he glanced at Tatsuki, resulting in her nodding at him. She didn't mind fighting again, and she was satisfied with the reward as well.
Meanwhile, in another part of Seireitei, Ikkaku was lazing around on a hospital bed in a grumpy mood. In his opinion, he was already fully healed, but those damn healers just won't let him go.
'Stupid healers. Why are they running around all day looking meek, but the moment I'm in their care, they are like demons?'
Of course, Ikkaku had heard about Captain Unohana's patented "kind smile" that sent shivers of terror even through most Captain's spines, but how come the other healers could smile like that as well?
Moments later, Captain Kurotsuchi entered the room, wearing his usual golden ornaments, weird hat, and makeup to make his skin white.
"If it isn't Third Seat Madarame, I heard you fought an intruder. What did they look like."
Ikkaku couldn't help but frown when he heard Mayuri's question. For some reason, he felt like he had some form of grudge against the intruders, which Ikkaku found weird, as he didn't believe Mayuri had encountered them before.
Nevertheless, he noticed that the person he fought, Ichigo, had a lot of hidden potentials, so he might even put up a fight against his Captain. In the end, he decided to don't give Mayuri any information. After all, they were in different Divisions, so he didn't have to take orders from him.
"No idea. I didn't hear their names, nor did I talk with them. In fact, I can't even remember what they looked like."
Obviously, Mayuri was angry that Ikkaku clearly didn't want to give him any information, causing him to raise his hand for an attack. However, before anything could happen, another hand grabbed Mayuri, making him frown.
"I don't think you have any jurisdiction about the people in my Division, so get lost already."
Hearing not an ounce of politeness in the voice that had just talked to him, Mayuri really wanted to lash out but didn't do so.
Zaraki Kenpachi, the man who had just stopped his hand, went to his research institute to request... well, demand another two seals that ate away at his Spiritual Power endlessly. Usually, Mayuri couldn't give a shit what other's requested, but this one was actually to his liking. After all, he assumed that the moment Kenpachi put on another two seals, he would die from getting all his Spiritual Power sucked out of his, permanently getting rid of an annoying muscle head.
However, Kenpachi wasn't fazed in the slightest from having three seals on his body and still gave off a powerful feeling, dumbfounding Mayuri. After all, if he were to do the same, he would die within seconds. So, he decided to stay away from Kenpachi for now until he came up with a method to defeat him. Well, he wouldn't actually try to defeat him, but Mayuri hated not being prepared for every possibility.
Anyway, Mayuri pulled his hand away from Kenpachi and scoffed in disdain before leaving the room.
"Anyway, I'll read about it in your report."
Kenpachi, who had not written a single report since becoming a Captain, completely ignored Mayuri's words, making him even angrier before speaking to Ikkaku the moment Mayuri was gone.
"Well, how was the intruder?"
Unlike with Mayuri, the moment Ikkaku heard his Captain's question, he started speaking instantly.
"Strong, very strong. Additionally, my guts are telling me that he has the potential to grow much stronger. Maybe even stronger than you, Captain."
The moment Ikkaku finished talking, Kenpachi's eyebrows rose in doubt. If it was before meeting Yuna, he might have believed Ikkaku's words, but now, after his full power was unlocked, he doubted that there was another intruder that could match him. He didn't believe that all of them were Yuna-level threats.
Nonetheless, Kenpachi nodded his head in understanding. Since his subordinate pointed him at a potentially good fight, how could he simply dismiss that?
However, before Kenpachi could ask for a description of the intruder's appearance, a little girl popped up from behind his back, jumped at Ikkaku, and gave him a dropkick to the head.
"Stupid baldy, there is no way there is another one as strong as Yuna!"
"Owowow, Yuna?"
"That's right! She is super strong and..."
"Yesyes, whatever. So, how does the person you fought look like?"
Before Yachiru could spill any secrets, Kenpachi picked her up by the gruff of her neck, making her pout.
"His name is Kurosaki Ichigo. A young man with spiky orange hair and a huge blade on his back."
"Very well, let's see what he can do."
'If he is weak, I'll just play with him a little and treat it as a warm-up before training.'
While these thoughts crossed his mind, he left the compound with a smidgen of excitement in his eyes.
Meanwhile, back with Naruto and Tatsuki, Tatsuki and Shuhei had started fighting, magma-covered fists constantly clashing with a Zanpakuto. If it was close combat alone, Tatsuki actually was confident of winning the fight, but Shuhei wasn't so easy to defeat.
He was a rather skilled Kido user, bringing Tatsuki trouble again and again due to not knowing anything about it. All she could do was dodge the plethora of different spells Shuhei used as well as she could, trusting in her reflexes.
The duo clashed yet again, resulting in both of them sliding backward and coming to a stop a few meters away from each other. Seeing that Shuhei's Zanpakuto was still in its sealed form, Tatsuki couldn't help but frown.
"Why aren't you using your Shikai? Are you looking down on me?"
When Shuhei heard Tatsuki's words, he frowned deeply while looking at his weapon.
"I don't like using it. I'm not fond of its form."
"Haa? Not fond of its form? I've heard that Zanpakuto are part of its user, so doesn't that translate to you being not happy about something about yourself?"
Obviously, Shuhei was aware of that as well but was not ready to admit it, so instead of thinking about it for too long, he resumed attacking, causing Tatsuki to shake her head.
"Since you're not willing to go all out, I might as well finish this. Since I've arrived here, I felt something about my power change, and now I'm finally aware of what exactly had changed."
As soon as she finished speaking, the Spiritual Pressure she was radiating increased, resulting in her feet getting covered in lava as well, while the temperature grew even further.
Seeing that, Naruto couldn't help but smile a little.
'Seems like there is a good chance that Tatsuki's power will end up being a full-body armor. I'm looking forward to it.'
Shuhei, on the other hand, didn't have a good feeling about this. He already was in trouble due to Tatsuki having two weapons while he only had one, but now that number has increased to four.
Despite that, he sighed deeply while reading his blade. If this were a life-and-death situation, he would have probably used his Shikai by now, but since it wasn't, he decided not to use it at all. Frankly, he feared accidentally killing Tatsuki, which would undoubtedly result in Naruto's wrath descending on Seirkeitei.
So far, there were no causalities, but if Naruto were to rampage through Seireitei, Shuhei had no doubts that a lot of people would die.
At the same time, in another part of Seireitei, a somewhat fated encounter took place as Renji Abarai met Ichigo, who defeated him the first time they met. However, this time Renji's strength wasn't sealed, so he was rather confident in capturing Ichigo.
However, before the fight could even start, Renji pointed his Zanpakuto at Ichigo, anger clearly visible on his face.
"What the hell have your people been doing in Seireitei over the course of the last week!? Aren't you here to rescue Rukia!? Why are you terrorizing Seireitei's Shinigami while having seeming no interest in Rukia!?"
Hearing Renji's questions, Ichigo could only awkwardly scratch his head while looking away from Renji. He didn't really know what he meant by "terrorizing Seireitei's Shinigami", but considering he could still easily see the snow-covered area and the giant ice dick, it wasn't hard to guess that this wasn't everything Yuna had done.
"*Cough* Well, sorry about that, but I have nothing to do with this. I'm not sure how she did this, but as far as I can tell, everything was done by Yuna."
Obviously, Renji had expected that much. After all, Byakuya got cake thrown in his face the last time he encountered Yuna, so Renji didn't need to be a genius to connect the dots and link the mess within Seireitei to Yuna.
However, that didn't mean he couldn't vent some of his anger on Ichigo, who was one of Yuna's companions.
"So what? I'll defeat and capture you here, and then I'll hunt her down as well, using you as bait. Let's see how funny she thinks her pranks are when she is strapped in for execution."
"Ara~ That sounds like a delightful experience, but I think I'll have to decline~"
A shiver of utter terror ran through Renji's spine as a presence suddenly appeared directly behind him, resulting in him hastily unsheathing his blade and slashing at the presence. However, his weapon harmlessly passed through the air, wounding no one.
"Oh? How naughtly~ To think you would try to put your long thing into me the moment you notice my presence~"
Renji hastily turned around to the source of the voice that was now a few meters away from him and immediately saw Yuna casually standing next to a stiff-faced Ichigo, playing with her hair while a smirk adorned her face.
'How did she sneak up on me like that? I didn't notice her presence only after she actually started speaking to me. If she had attacked, I might have actually died. F*ck!'
While Renji's mood soured, Ichigo could only look at Yuna in bewilderment. Unlike Renji, who only noticed Yuna suddenly appearing behind him, Ichigo saw everything that had happened. Although Yuna did appear behind Renji instantly, he didn't actually notice her until she spoke, giving her plenty of time to take out a pair of fake bunny ears to hold behind Renji's head, making it look like he was wearing them.
Additionally, she moved twice, yet he couldn't see her move at all, as if she was teleporting around.
'No wonder she could rampage through the city for over a week. Her speed is ridiculous.'
"Well, you want some help with this, Ichigo? I don't mind cleaning him up for you."
Hearing Yuna's words, Ichigo and Renji instantly got out of their dazes, resulting in Renji preparing for a fight he likely couldn't win while Ichigo started thinking about the current situation.
'Considering how fast she is, she could probably defeat Renji instantly, but why did she ask me whether I want help or not?'
As these thoughts crossed his mind, he realized the most likely reason for her to act like this.
'I want to save Rukia, and to do so, I will very likely have to fight Byakuya. From what I've heard, Renji is Byakuya's Lieutenant, so if I can't even defeat him by myself, how could I possibly save Rukia? Clearly, she wants me to fight by myself to overcome this obstacle.'
Meanwhile, Yuna's thoughts were a little... different.
'Mah, there are no fun fights going on~ Why is that idiot Shuhei not using his Shikai? Where is the fun in watching someone getting one-sidedly beaten up? Oh well, Ichigo against Renji should be decently entertaining as long as Ichigo doesn't wuss out.'
While Yuna was deep in thought, Ichigo managed to gain his resolve, determination burning in his eyes.
"There is no need for help. I'll win this by myself."
Seeing the determination in Ichigo's eyes, Yuna nodded in approval. She was just about to give him a few approving words when her head snapped towards a certain direction where she could feel powerful Spiritual Pressure.
'Oh? That fight seems more interesting than this one. Guess I'll ditch these two and watch the other fight instead~'
"Nice resolve, Ichigo. Just believe in yourself, and I'm sure you can win. Anyway, something rather important has just popped up, so I'll leave this to you. See ya~"
Before either Ichigo or Renji could react, Yuna simply vanished, dumbfounding the duo yet again. One moment she was here, and the next, she was suddenly gone. Neither of them could fathom how she was doing that.
Meanwhile, Yuna couldn't help but smirk as she quickly moved toward the point where the strong Spiritual Pressure was coming from.
'Ishida, huh? I was not expecting him to pop up like this. This should be interesting. I wonder what kind of method he used to suddenly become this strong. How exciting~'