I get questions like; where was Aizen during the whole battle? Didn't he just say he would fight Naruto alone? Obviously he is going to fight whoever wins the battle between Naruto and Yamamoto.

Naruto telling Yamamoto about his abilities? What does it matter? You already know he is an arrogant ass, and it isn't anything new in this crappy story. Gin did say that Naruto told him about his abilities. How is that surprising given that Gin is a cunning snake? On another note, did Naruto actually tell Yamamoto how any of his abilities work? Even if Yamamoto knows that the flames were once under his control, what is it going to change?

The lack of 'human emotion' is something that, as an author of this story, am very much aware of. I just haven't been able to change things for the better.

Naruto is getting beat? Yes, Yamamoto cut him? But what did it do? As far as things stand, Naruto has no damage in him. In his inner monologue, Yamamoto did say that Naruto wasn't the one to get tired. Besides, he wasn't even using the Sharingan nor the Rinnegan, and a proper sword. What happened when he showed a flash of his brilliance?

Now that I'm done with the rant, I can get on with the final chapter...

Chapter 16

Naruto looked at Yamamoto with a small smile spreading across his face; how long had he waited for Yamamoto to finally do something like that? To him, anyone fighting him bellow Bankai level was only playing a child's game that he/she wasn't going to win. He was only forced to play along because Yamamoto was by no means a weak thing - not to say he could actually challenge him enough to make him sweat. A Bankai released a Shinigami's true form and power, and this considerable level of heat that would surely harm Seireitei if it is exposed of it for long periods, signified Yamamoto's true might.

'Could he regenerate from ashes? Possibly not. But it was impossible to turn his whole body into ashes.'

It was surely going to get serious now, and that meant he had to get serious too. This only meant that things would progress at a faster right than before. It was dangerous for Yamamoto to maintain his Bankai for long periods - as it could kill him. He wasn't at least concerned by the death of the Sotaicho. His problem was that if he took too long, Yamamato's Bankai would cause too much strain on his body that he won't be able to swing his sword at the highest level, and he didn't want to feel like he defeated the Captain-commander because of something like that.

The former captain had his blade disperse and held out his right hand; he collected a small amount of Yamamoto's residual reiatsu on the palm of his hand. The reiatsu was just as hot as the flames of Ryujin Jakka, truly powerful as well. ''Your reiatsu hasn't weakened over the years,'' Naruto said as the reiatsu dispersed into thin air.

''I'm not going to tell you to get ready,'' Yamamoto said, ignoring Naruto's comment about his reiatsu. He didn't need to hear it from the blond to know and believe it. It was his power and only he would know it better than the arrogant fool.

In a silent movement, Yamamoto blurred from his position and appeared in front of Naruto; the speed used was so great that not everyone watching had been able to track down the movements of the oldest serving Gotei 13 captain. The Sotaicho was slightly above ground when he appeared in front of Naruto, and was holding his blade with both his hands when he swung it from his right, towards Naruto's neck, in a horizontal swing. There was so much speed in the swing that flames flickered as the sword sped towards Naruto in a glaring effort to cleave his head off his shoulders.

Naruto's reaction was to raise his right hand, palm facing Yamamoto's strike, with the Rinnegan activated. While Yamamoto's blade didn't reach his palm, it connected with an invisible barrier. The collision was followed by a resounding boom that sent a powerful shockwave through the battleground, and tore through the very ground bellow the two, leaving a crater, and chunks of earth falling down the ground. Despite all that, Naruto didn't move a muscle, nor did Yamamoto. But that didn't mean that the captain commander wasn't at least surprised that there was a technique that could block his swing.

''Even with your Bankai, you cannot reach me unless I permit you, Yamamoto. I allowed you to cut me so to give you some confidence. But now, I want to show you the power of god,'' Naruto stated. ''I'm going to crush all your confidence, bully you and then kill you. First thing first, get away from me.'' That said, a wordless Shinra Tensei blew the Captain Commander away from Naruto, but he was quick to recover as he landed on the ground safely.

Yamamoto had taken note that Naruto was using his normal eyes the entire time they were battling, and he had only shown a flash of his brilliance once by one swing that was powerful enough to make Him drop his sword. If he had been swinging his sword like that all along, things would be different. It wasn't that the power of his swings had something to do with his 'lowered' fighting level; for some reason, he was holding back. He only kept the thought at the back of his head, but now since the blond had decided to bring out those eyes, he had to explore everything.

''Don't be surprised, Yamamoto,'' Naruto said. ''Did you forget that I once fought the Royal Guard on my own? You witnessed the battle firsthand, so you should know that you alone can't do it. Isn't the Royal guard is stronger than the Gotei 13? What are you alone, Yamamoto?''

Yamamoto gritted his teeth a little, in an effort to stop himself from lunging at Naruto so that he could test a few things. When Naruto fought the Gotei 13, he wasn't stronger than now, or so he claimed. But still, even if there is no difference in power level, he should've fought him much better than he was. He had witnessed that battle firsthand and he knew that at one point, Naruto had the upper hand while fighting against those four, who even he couldn't hope of defeating by himself.

Naruto held a single hand seal on his left hand, while holding out his right; a powerful shockwave tore through the battleground, even managing to hit Yamamoto, and send him a few feet back. The atmosphere flipped. Something powerful had awakened. There was no reiatsu pouring out, but the aura coming off Naruto wasn't empty anymore, but a frightening aura. On his right hand, the self-proclaimed god held his cherished katana, Amaterasu.

The katana was brought to the left side - he flipped it to get a better hold at it. Once that was done, he swiped it in a single, invisible move. The swing cut through the air, producing a powerful force that lifted large amounts of earth in front of him, and the force collided with Yamamoto, sending him, flipping backwards. It had seemed like a caterpillar had just blew by because of the way the ground was cut by the swing of Naruto.

Seeing his handy work, he smiled. ''This is why I didn't want to bring it out before you released your Bankai,'' he said. ''But this is not quite it.''

With Shinigami

A wide eyed Toushiro stared at the scene that had just unfolded; he couldn't believe it. He was hailed as a prodigy and even the likes of Kyoraku said he would surpass them one day, but even his sword couldn't do something like that with just a simple swing. There was no technique released, but a simple swing of the sword had managed to cleave out a large amount of earth, and the force behind it had still managed to catch Yamamoto off-guard to send him airborne. He didn't even have anything to say about the aura coming off that man.

''Just how strong is that man?'' It was by no means a simple swing that could do something like that; he refused to believe that. But he could believe that the man had a powerful swing in him. A swing of him had managed to hit Yamamoto so hard that he dropped his blade, after all, and that was a feat he believed no one could achieve. He didn't even see himself dropping his blade, no matter how powerful a swing was.

For all the wrong and right reasons, for once since coming here, Shutara felt excited; this was a perfect stage for all to his Naruto show off his power. He had arranged it all like it was a play. She was finally going to see the power that had a dangerous woman like Amaya frightened, and think of betraying him. She wanted to see the power that made him proud, the power that made him god everyone else. She was sure even Unohana would be interested in seeing this. No one here, aside from Amaya has seen the true power of that man, but now they would.

''Yare, yare,'' Kyoraku said, smiling despite the situation. ''It looks like we're finally going to see this godly power he always spoke of. While he is indeed strong, there hasn't been anything godly displayed.''

Ukitake nodded, but he was worried about Yamamoto. He certainly didn't want his former sensei to perish in this kind of battle. While he understood that reason couldn't settle things with Aizen and his army, he would have preferred it Naruto was actually with them, against the enemy. Instead, the former captain had chosen to fight on his own corner. 'I guess it is something I should have expected,' the captain thought mildly.

Back with Naruto and Yamamoto

''Impressive,'' Yamamoto said, commenting on Naruto's earlier strike. ''That actually reminded me of whom I am dealing with,'' it seemed that despite knowing that he was facing a mountain, he'd actually forgotten the name of this mountain. But it was no consequence as no harm had yet to be done.

''You think?'' Naruto said, crossing his hands in front of his face; he put them in an x position, while his right continued with his firm grip on his sword. ''I am not quite there yet,'' he muttered before closing both his eyes as his hands completely hid his face.

''What are you trying to do?''

Naruto didn't give a response. But the ground began to shake, putting Yamamoto on alert. The captain commander narrowed his eyes as he felt in invisible force trying to force upon its dominance on him. If he had been a weak child, he would've certainly been on his knees, gasping for air. He looked ahead, as rocks began to be uplifted around Naruto. Those that were a little closer turned to dust. What followed then was a bright light that made him shield his eyes.

When he opened them, Naruto wasn't in the position he'd last seen him; he suddenly appeared in front of him. On instinct, Yamamoto jumped away from the former captain - there was no attack coming from him though. Yamamoto noticed that Naruto's eyes were different; he'd never seen this form before, but it was like a mixture of those two other forms. Moreover, there were those Truth-seeking balls floating behind him.

''Shall we dance, Shingekuni?''

By the time the words fully registered on Yamamoto's mind, Naruto was already in front of him, again. Even though he couldn't feel any power from him, the aura coming off Naruto was quite oppressing, but he held firm. Unlike last time when he didn't attack, this time, he attacked; Amaterasu was swung, aiming to cut Yamamoto's neck. The captain commander reacted in time to bend back, taking advantage of his agility. His narrowed eyes only watched as Naruto's blade cut through just above him.

The ground behind was torn apart by a wave that came off the swing of Naruto's sword. Yamamoto didn't look at the destruction of the blade though - he focused his attention on more pressing matters; Naruto and his intent to crush him.

Yamamoto stabbed his blade on the ground and used it to balance himself. His actions were made quick enough to avoid Naruto attacking him while he was busy with balancing himself. He moved back a little straight, and charged his right foot for a high kick. The force he'd put through was so much that his left foot dug down the ground. Despite the amount of power he put behind his kick, Naruto merely caught the kick with his left hand. The grip was so firm that Yamamoto knew unless he strikes, he couldn't escape. Naruto didn't give him the chance to escape though.

While maintaining his firm grip on Yamamoto's right foot, Naruto twisted, clockwise. The twisting lifted the Sotaicho from the ground, making him lose the little balance he'd earned for himself. He held himself well from becoming dizzy as Naruto spun him around in blinding speed; he could actually feel waves of wind crushing his face as Naruto continued to spin. Finally, he was let go, but that only led him to sail through the air.

Naruto didn't allow him to go far though. He swiped his sword, just barely though. ''The Emperor's lightnining sword,'' a white wave of energy bust forth from the swipe and sped towards the airborne Yamamoto. The technique didn't take more than a second to reach the Shinigami; the technique collided with Yamamoto, head on, hitting him straight on the chest. That compelled him further into the air before the momentum weakened, and he balanced himself to fall down the ground on both his feet.

He looked at his chest; Naruto's technique had left its mark on his skin - there was a horizontal cut across his chest that drew small amounts of blood. He guessed he wasn't going to escape any attack from the opponent without facing a wound - that is if he can't escape it anyway.

When his attention snapped towards Naruto; he had his left hand pointed above him. This forced him to hastily look above him to see what danger lied ahead; there was something like a black hole above him, he didn't even get the chance to look at it carefully to analyze it as it quickly fired a black laser beam. The beam shot down in tremendous speed. Boom! A cloud of dust picked up around the captain commander, hiding his appearance.

While the cloud of dust was still at large, after the beam of energy had crashed down on Yamamoto, the captain commander shot out of it like a bullet, charging towards Naruto. The former captain didn't move as Yamamoto neared him. Both the captain commander's feet crushed down the ground as he forced power on his feet for a firm balance, in preparing for his next strike. Swung his katana in a downwards slash, aiming above the opponent's head, but the attack was blocked by Naruto's sword.

He followed this by a striker on the right, but Naruto aligned his sword across his shoulder block another of his attack. What was amazing about it was that despite the amount of force he was putting behind his strikes, Naruto didn't move an inch - a testament to the power behind the strikes was that by now, the ground beneath the former captain was no more, and he was floating. Still, Yamamoto followed suit this by a strike on the left, but it was also blocked.

'Hmmm?' He wondered when he was about to unleash a two handed strike; roots bust forth from the ground, catching him by his feet. They wrapped themselves on his feet, keeping him moving. He was caught in surprise by this, and the firmness of the roots didn't allow him to move.

''This will hurt a little,'' Naruto said. A powerful swing of his blade went towards on the right side. His feet may have been locked on the ground, but he could still move his hands freely. He blocked the strike by his katana. When the swords collided, Yamamoto felt his hands vibrate as Ryujin Jakka trembled from the collision.

Naruto acted again, this time, his blade went through his right shoulder. It wasn't that he hadn't tried blocking the strike - he did, Naruto's blade was just lightning fast. He may have super reflexes, but he had his limits. A burst of lightning coursed through his body, mercilessly. If it wasn't because he was Yamamoto, he would've let out a pained scream because the lightning tortured every part of his body with enough intensity to leave burn marks around his body. Naruto followed this by a punch that drove straight into his chest. Upon contact, he was sent sailing into the air like a bullet.

Upon crashing down, Yamamoto was quick to get up on one knee. He coughed up some blood, courtesy of that punch from Naruto. As it appeared, the former captain hits just as hard as he does with his punches. The only difference was that Naruto's body was much younger and stronger than his. He'd even felt the air leave his lungs for a moment when the punch connected, and it may have broken a bone or two from his rib cage. Panting slightly, Yamamoto looked up at Naruto. Just as he did, the former captain suddenly disappeared, on to his right, making him twist in preparation.

Once he twisted, he found Naruto waiting for him, bended down to meet his level. Yamamoto's katana had already been prepared though; he twisted around along with his blade, placed in a position to strike. It should have pierced through Naruto's gut, from his position, but it was blocked by a black mass. Naruto leaned closer to him, face inches away from his. At this point, Yamamoto could feel the calm breathing from the man.

''You're n-''

Naruto cut off the captain commander by gripping his face with his right hand - his blade was now held on his left. ''I can reach you any time, Shingekuni,'' he stated. ''But on the other hand, you can't reach me, unless I permit it. Your Bankai may be dangerous, but if you can't touch me, you can't turn me to ash. Didn't you say you wanted to see if I could regenerate from ashes?''

Naruto proceeded to pummel Yamamoto down the ground with so much force that his entire body dug down the ground. Yamamoto winced when his back slammed with the unforgiving ground. Mind you, the ground wasn't that all sandy, it was rather hard, like a desert. Shrugging off his aching back, the captain commander looked from where he lay; Naruto was now above ground, floating in air, holding out his right hand.

''Death Beam.''

Yamamoto quickly disappeared from the ground to avoid being hit by the technique. Given his condition, it wouldn't have done him any good if he allowed that kind of technique to hit him dead on. The black beam blasted from the palm of Naruto's hand, crashed down the ground, resulting in an explosion.

Yamamoto appeared behind Naruto, above air. He swung his sword in a downwards slash, attempting to cut Naruto through his back. It would've been a great counter, had his slash not been blocked... Well, not precisely that; instead of hitting Naruto, a black mass formed across the opponent's back, but his blade connected with it as it slid down under the momentum. It was the same stuff that protected Naruto from his earlier strike.

''Don't you know, it is impossible to stab me in the back,'' well, as long as those balls kept floating.

That said, Naruto turned to face Yamamoto, who returned with a slash that went across his chest. But Naruto position his blade in time to block the strike. ''Interesting isn't it? I am able to stand this close to your blade, yet it cannot reach me. At this stage, Ryujin Jakka should be able to cut through anything, but it can't cut through my defenses. I'm not even using illusions to fool you, nor have I brought out all my cards, but you still haven't touched me, should I lower my defenses so that you can get a hit?''

''Don't grow too overconfident!'' Yamamoto snapped before trying to push Naruto back, he only succeeded in moving the former captain an inch. When he was about to strike again, Naruto's left eye glowed a bit. ''Rinbo Hengoku,'' a shadow appeared above Yamamoto, invisible to the captain commander. The shadow pummeled the man down the ground with both its hands, they crashed straight on head of the Sotaicho. The rocket bullet in the form of Yamamoto went down the ground into a loud boom that caused large amounts of debris to pick up.

Naruto started to descend down the ground, slowly. Once he landed down the ground, he flicked his sword onto his right hand, ''that should have done enough damage,'' he said, watching the debris clear.

The thing that hit him actually hit way harder than Naruto, Yamamoto realized as he struggled to get up from the crater his fall had created; his breathing was also a bit labored, and some blood was leaking from his mouth. Not to mention he still had a wound on his shoulder. Yamamoto inhaled some fresh air, and exhaled before standing up on both his feet. He looked at Naruto; he was standing still, watching him like a hawk.

Yamamoto spat out the blood inside his mouth and darted towards the opponent. A large rock bust from the ground, blocking his way towards Naruto, but he cut through the rock using his katana. It didn't even slow him down as he was in front of Naruto in seconds. His swing cleaved through the air, trying to catch Naruto at his right shoulder, but Naruto jumped back to avoid the blow.

''Have you wondered why I was able to touch you, despite it being impossible for anyone to touch you, while using your Bankai, without being eradicating into nothingness? I touched you, but nothing happened. Have you asked yourself why those roots were able to get hold of you without burning into nothingness? Have you questioned why your Bankai can't get through any of my defense?'' Naruto threw in the questions, in a slightly taunting tone. Yamamoto was supposed to be untouchable while using his Bankai, yet, he could touch him.

''It is pointless wondering,'' Yamamoto said. ''What is it going to change if I ask?'' Yamamoto then stabbed his sword down in to the ground, but Naruto didn't allow him to activate his technique. A blast crashed into his chest, sending him sailing backwards.

Yamamoto was quick to recover; dashed at Naruto again. ''Tenchi Kaijin!'' Ye yelled swinging his blade towards Naruto. The former captain held out his hand, and a black wall formed in front of him. However, Yamamoto's blade cut through the wall, turning it into ashes. But that was all.

''Genryusai, let me help you,'' Naruto stated, looking calm. ''Why are you bleeding?''

The mere question made Yamamoto's body freeze in deathly silence; it shouldn't be possible. Simply because the heat produced by his Bankai would simply turn the blood into ash, hence he shouldn't be bleeding. There shouldn't be anything in a liquid form around this area, so how was it possible? ''What did you do?''

Naruto tilted his head, ''you've finally realized it,'' he said. ''You just said it; it changes nothing even if I tell you. I will however show you this,'' he pointed a finger at Yamamoto's left side; One of the truth-seeking balls was dangerously close. Yamamoto widened his eyes, having not sensed the thing. ''Your Bankai isn't the only thing that turns things into ash.''

Boom!

An explosion set off just beside the captain commander. The explosion by the truth-seeking ball was contained, hence its small scale destruction. Naruto had only aimed at it destroying his target and everything else it could touch, to an acceptable level. Yamamoto got out of the debris, holding out his left shoulder, with the rest of his hand missing, having been turned to ash by the truth-seeking ball. Yamamoto's weariness was now starting to catch up to him, and the fact that his left hand was removed didn't make things better for him.

''I attached the ball to you when you attacked me,'' Naruto stated, while walking towards the captain commander.

Yamamoto watched calmly as Naruto slowly shortened the distance between them, but he suddenly disappeared. He blurred into sight on the left side where his hand was missing. Naruto raised his hand, palm facing Yamamoto. The captain commander quickly placed his hand in front of his face to avoid the blow when Naruto released a technique, ''Cero.''

Instead of being hit by the Cero, Yamamoto felt something piercing through his gut. Only then did the image he was seeing crumble, to reveal that what he had been seeing was a mere illusion. The real Naruto was standing in front of him, Amaterasu inside his cut, burning his intestines. ''This was not epic as I'd hoped, but let us put an end to this,''

Yamamoto's response was to drop Ryujin Jakka to the ground and grab the right hand of Naruto, which was holding the blade inside of him. ''I've finally reached you,'' he said. By now, his Bankai had deactivated, but it was no matter, he'd made all preparations, despite being caught up in this battle with Naruto.

''Really?'' Naruto asked, as though he couldn't see that Yamamoto had his right hand on him. ''Unfortunately, this music has worn me out, Yamamoto.'' Naruto tightened his grip on his blade, ''Sigh of the thunder dragon.'' Lightning bust from Naruto's blade, and travelled throughout Yamamoto's body. The lightning was so much that it actually burned part of Yamamoto's clothes, and left him severely burned. Even so, Yamamoto didn't let his grip on Naruto go. The former captain was impressed with Yamamoto's resilient as the jutsu would have actually turned a normal person into ash.

''I didn't want to make it nasty, but since you won't let me go, I have no choice,'' Naruto said. But before he could blow up Yamamoto's gut, the captain commander muttered a few words, and his body started glowing with red marks.

Boom!

A loud explosion of red flames occurred, surrounding the two greats. The explosion had been bigger than any that had previously occurred, and the amount of flames poured out had formed a huge cloud like one big flame mountain. The flames didn't die easily as they continued to burn for a few moments. When they finally died down, Naruto was floating above a large crater, with Yamamoto struggling in the air, held by his neck by Naruto's right hand.

''You will turn to ash on my terms Yamamoto,'' Naruto said, before allowing the severely burned body of Yamamoto to fall down the ground. He stayed up and waited for the badly injured captain to hit the ground. Once that happened, he held out his right hand, and gathered large amounts of reiatsu. ''Lightning Emperor's funeral.''

An eerie silence settled in for a few moments before the blinding light made the view blurry to everyone's' view. The light was followed by what felt like an earth quake; the very ground trembled, and the bright light continued to be at large. An explosion followed suit, feeling as though it had come from the core of the world they were in. Once the light disappeared, no one could see anything, except for a large mushroom of debris. It took several minutes for the debris to die down, and when it did, eyes widened; where Yamamoto had once fallen was now a bottomless hole like abyss.

''That took a lot, but definitely, worth the effort,'' Naruto said. This was the first time he was using such a technique; it was merely experimental, but he executed it perfectly and that was satisfying.

''That was splendid,'' Aizen commented as he stepped into the fray. ''Your powers are truly splendid.''

''You think?'' Naruto turned to face the traitorous captain. Amaterasu was flicked on his left hand in a moment of thought before he suddenly disappeared.

''Hmmm?'' Aizen could only wonder as Naruto was suddenly in front of him, right hand inside his gut. Blood started leaking from his mouth, and gut. He hadn't felt a thing; that had actually taken place without his realization, and he only felt the pain now. How had the man moved so fast? And who thought he was going to attack just like that?

Aizen coughed up blood when Naruto blew a hole on his gut by a blast of energy coming from the hand that had pierced him. This was followed by a slash across his chest. The cut was rather deep, enough to make blood gush out. Naruto didn't stop there; he swung his sword, releasing an technique just like Ichigo's Gentsuga Tensho. The attack hit Aizen dead on, and sent him plummeting down the ground, away from the bottomless pit.

''That would have certainly killed me if I hadn't subdued this thing,'' Aizen said, standing from the ground, while pointing at the glowing Hyogyoku. Instead of regenerating his wounds, a white mass began to slowly cover his body, making Aizen smile. ''You're certainly the best opponent for me...''

Naruto shook his head, ''I will not fight you,'' he said. ''You will also no longer be the warden of hell. I attacked you like that because I wanted to test this immortality of yours. I got my answer, which leads me to conclude that you must be wiped out from existence, quickly - two immortals cannot exist in this time.''

''I never thought someone like you would say such words,'' Aizen responded, as the black mass continued to cover his body.

''I have nothing more to explain to you, so goodbye, Aizen,'' his left eye narrowed a bit, ''Amaterasu!'' Jet like black flames bust into life around Aizen's entire body. While the setting of the inextinguishable flames was normally followed by screams of pain, silence followed after he set them off around Aizen. The flames were blasted away from Aizen, and the man appeared to be in a new form.

''Did you think that woul...'' Aizen stopped when he realized something; 7 small black balls surrounded him, and the 8th was above him.

''No,'' Naruto answered, Aizen's uncompleted question. ''I just did that so I could prepare those balls,'' he said. ''Now, here's what is going to happen; those balls are going to turn you into ash, and you will be no more. You may try to activate a defense technique, but that ball above you will negate it, leaving you defenseless. As you already know, you cannot reform if you entire body is incarnated.'' He paused for a moment. ''Just to be on the safe side, I will watch from afar. If I stay close, I may get caught in the explosion. Those balls turn everything to ash; I am no exception to that rule.''

Seireitei, 6 months Later

''You seem to be having happy days, considering everything,'' Shunsui said, walking over to his friend and Colleague, Ukitake. The captain smiled more often than he did in the previous years. Considering that his beloved sensei had been killed by Naruto, Shunsui would have thought that the man would be in grief, even to this day. It is not to say that he didn't care about Yamamoto; he did, but he wasn't as sensitive as Ukitake was.

It has been a whole of 6 months since everything happened with Naruto, at least he should expect the man to be happy. He may be a lot more sensitive than him, but Jushiro was strong, and time has passed. The man wasn't the one to dwell in the past, especially when it wasn't going to do anything good for his health. Accepting the current situation did him good than harm, and made it easier to deal with the new order of things around Seireitei.

For him, things couldn't be better. Despite new responsibilities he faced, he had more free done to relax than he had anticipated. Naturally, things weren't the same without Yamamoto, but everything was going well.

''So have you been,'' Jushiro responded quietly. He was sitting on fresh blades of grass just behind his residents with a bottle of sake and a saucer just beside him. He didn't usually drink alone, but there were this kind of moments where he had to think alone and process things. The sake was just for the cause, but did nothing to relieve him of his thoughts.

''Well, I have no reason to be depressed,'' Kyoraku said, settling beside his long-time friend. He may be the one captain-commander, but nothing about him had changed. The fact that he didn't have to worry about wars or anyone attacking Seireitei made it an easier job for him. In recent years, there has always been more trouble following them around, and they always had to prepare for battles.

From the day Aizen and Yamamoto fell, things changed drastically. The remaining Espada had taken charge of Hueco Mundo and controlled everything that went around there. This made it easy for them to manage things as those Espada's despite some of them not liking either humans or Shinigami, travelled into the human world to deal with any Hollow that was causing havoc to the wondering spirits within the real world.

With a proper leadership and management, they didn't have to encounter hollows endlessly. Yes, they still did have to fight stray Hollows, but their job was no longer just to kill Hollows. For now, they focused much on keeping the balance in the human world and in this world, as well as keeping an eye on the Hollows to ensure that they didn't do anything stupid. The chance of that was very low given that the man who made himself god over everything was always watching.

A lot of changes did happen around Seireitei; the first and most stand-out being that the Soul King had been banished from his dimension. He was the key that kept the balance of things between worlds, but since Naruto ascended as God, he took over that role, practically making the Soul King useless. For this, Naruto had decided that he didn't need his own dimension, but if he was going to be king to the Souls, it was better he too live in Seireitei, and so the Soul King was brought here, effectively ensuring that no other Central 46 was created.

This also meant that the royal guard was shipped from the Soul King's dimension into this world; they still kept their tittles though and had their little bubbles around the place that used to be the execution grounds, surrounding the Soul King's palace, dug beneath the grounds.

''So do I,'' Ukitake said.

''How is your health?'' Shunsui asked, pouring himself a drink. ''You haven't been experiencing anything painful since Naruto healed you...''

''No changes, I'm still perfectly fine,'' Ukitake said. He could still remember the day Naruto told him he knew everything about his condition and revealed that he could've healed him long ago, but had just chosen to do because it wasn't the right time. He constantly checked himself though because he wasn't exactly sure that man could restore everything, but given everything, there wasn't any reason for him to doubt.

''That is at least good,'' Shunsui said, sipping his drink. ''I swear Nanao-chan is going to kill me for running away from all the paperwork...''

Karakura Town

Visored Hideout

''Something just breached the barrier,'' Hachi said, suddenly alarmed by the thing that had walked past his barrier like it wasn't even there. More frightening was the fact that there were red eyes that had peered into his soul when the thing connected with his reiatsu, which was keeping the barrier active.

''Something?'' Shinji asked, brow arched by the expression on Hachi's face. Not taking things lightly, he spoke again, ''Let us go greet this thing...'' he said to the rest of his friends.

When Naruto entered the abandoned warehouse, he was greeted by the former members of the Gotei 13. He chose to remain quiet as he studied all of them with his eyes closed while floating in midair, with the Visoreds surrounding all his sides. Not even for a second when he felt someone move closer to him did he even bother to open his eyes or even move: he merely smiled.

''What do you want?'' Shinji demanded of the man who now controlled the Spiritual world. This was the man who had dethroned the royal family and kicked the Soul king as well his guards from their dimension and put them in Seireitei, without as much as lifting his sword to force the issue. According to Urahara, the Soul King didn't put a fight on it, as he had expected much worse - death.

''The infamous Visoreds,'' Naruto's voice echoed throughout the warehouse, it felt like it was coming from every direction and he hadn't even opened his mouth. ''What a lovely welcome this is,'' he added.

''Answer his question!'' another voice yelled, definitely female.

''How loud,'' Naruto mused, before tilting his head a little, his left eye opened slightly. ''I have a proposal for you, young ones...''

''We're not interested in anything you have to say!''

Naruto was silent for a few eerie minutes. ''Let me rephrase, then: god gives you a command and you will obey it,'' he paused for a moment, raising his index finger. ''From tomorrow, you will return to Seireitei. I do not care for your opinions in the matter. You're spiritual beings and shouldn't be living here. Return to the spirit world, your home. Urahara and his 'partners' have been given the same decree.'' That said, Naruto turned away from the Visoreds.

''What makes you think we will follow your orders? You're not our god and we have nothing to do with that place,'' Shinji responded calmly. He wasn't going to be told what to do by anyone, not even this man.

''I will not repeat what I've already said,'' Naruto said, walking away. ''When you get to Soul Society, you're free to choose where you wish to live. However, you must see the Soul King: he will humbly apologize for Yamamoto's actions.''

Naruto's Dimension

Shutara watched calmly as Naruto slowly walked towards his throne, which she was currently occupying. While Unohana stayed with them, that woman never once dared to comfort herself on the throne. It wasn't a rule that no one should sit on it, and since Naruto no longer spent much of his time, sitting on it, she also found some time on it.

''Are you done with your business in the human world?'' He had gone saying he needed to fix one last thing in the human world before he could rest. She had a good guess on who he'd gone to see since he had already dealt with Kisuke's group. Aside from that group, there was only one group which would interest him enough for him to temporarily 'leave' his world.

''Yes,'' Naruto said, before swapping positions with Shutara, taking his seat, while she stood just away from the throne. ''Did you even have to question?''

''No,'' Shutara said, walking up to the throne, again. She settled on Naruto's lap, facing him and hung both her hands over his shoulders. ''What now? You have done all that is needed, and we have got a whole lot of time together...''

''I think not,'' Unohana said, walking into the throne room before Shutara could do anything.

''Your timing sucks, Unohana,'' Shutara said, not the least pleased. ''Will you just turn away and leave me alone with Naruto? We still have some differences that need to be solved.''

''No,'' Unohana responded calmly. ''Your problems aren't my concern. Besides, you've had many opportunities to solve them, but you were too stuck up to attempt to solve them...''

''Need I remind you that I am the first lady here and you're just the other woman?'' Unohana chuckled, clearly amused. This prompted Shutara to question. ''Mind sharing the joke with me?''

''First lady? Between you and I, who has been involved with Naruto the longest? You may have his power, but you still act like a spoiled brat. No wonder he prefers me over you...''

''Ho?'' Shutara got away from Naruto to face the other black haired woman. ''It seems that we did wrong by feeding the dog with a bone. Now it has the spine to bark inside the house instead of staying in its rightful place: outside the house guarding the gates...''

''I'm surprised,'' Unohana started slowly. ''Now you have the spine to claim him when you were giving him the cold shoulder a few months ago,'' she then smiled. ''Did you know that Naruto and I actually had an affair when he was just 200 years old? And that was some 500? 700? 800? Years before he met you...''

End

Yap, for the last chapter, that clearly sulked and wasn't certainly in the way as I had thought. But I still think it wasn't too bad though.

Thanks to everyone who has supported the story since the beginning until now, as well as those who joined us along the way. It has really been a bumpy ride, but thanks for your support and appreciation for my work. As an author it means a lot.

The Omnipresent Sage