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I, Raymond Smith, own nothing
Hollow
Chapter 9: Team Rei
"Naruto-kun," Mito began, smiling sadly, "I appreciate you wanting my help, but I have a duty to fulfill. I cannot be pulled away from it."
"No! See, I have a solution!" he announced eagerly, gesturing her to follow him inside the Mask Storage Temple. "Your duty is looking after the Mask of the Shinigami, right?"
"Correct, but you already know this."
"You're duty-bound to prevent the misuse of it, and to keep it from the hands of others," he continued. "What if that duty could be fulfilled alongside your freedom of being tethered to this place?"
"What do you mean?"
He grinned that same grin his mother had as a child, and Mito could tell that Naruto had some unorthodox plan in mind. Instead of a verbal answer, he instead had Binding Threads form two Spirit Chains that swayed beside him like serpents.
"Naruto…?"
"Hold still, Mito-baa-chan," he urged before, to her shock, he had one chain wrap around her Soul Chain while the other, to her horror, stabbed the Mask of the Shinigami.
"What are you doing?!" cried the woman in dread. "You just unleashed the bindings on the mask!"
"Exactly!" the blonde Uzumaki replied, forming a Ram Seal.
She would've said more, but she was rendered speechless when she saw the chain that had stabbed the mask absorb the spiritual particles from the destroyed artifact. The bladed tip of the Spirit Chain gained a deep violet glow that slowly traveled down the links, moving to Naruto's scarf while changing the color of the threading. Naruto grit his teeth, sweat forming on his brow as he focused on moving the spiritual energy through the strands and into the chain connected to her.
"Naruto…" she whispered in amazement, watching the violet energy flow through the links of his chain and sink into her own. In the span of a few seconds, her entire Soul Chain glowed with that same violet spiritual energy. Then, starting from the end tethered to the building, the chain began to fade into flecks of light, vanishing as it drifted to the end attached to her chest. "This is…!"
She couldn't finish, for her entire form was engulfed in violet spiritual energy that roared like an inferno of power. The outline of a sheathed sword flickered in her left hand before it, and her spiritual body, solidified and the spiritual energy became absorbed into her.
As soon as it was assimilated into her, Naruto fell to a knee and recalled his Spirit Chains while he heaved in exhaustion. As for Mito, she took in a deep breath of the nighttime air before exhaling with a newfound sense of peace. The last thing Naruto saw before he blacked out was the serene smile on her face changing to a look of worry,
Yoruichi was rendered speechless when she and Neliel arrived to where they felt Naruto's spiritual energy spiking. They had been worried that he was in trouble, but those worries were put to rest at the sight of Naruto's head resting peacefully in the lap of a redheaded woman dressed in the robes of a Shinigami with dark violet clothing beneath the black uniform. A sword was lying on the ground beside her, and she was gently caressing the blonde locks of the whiskered Uzumaki.
"He truly is something special, isn't he?" she asked softly, smiling gently at her resting clansman. "Willing to do everything in his power to help those he loves, even if it leads to unorthodox or questionable decisions. A heart of gold that can find the goodness in even the darkest of beings."
The two women remained silent, but Neliel was smiling at her friend.
Mito looked up and regarded them calmly. "I am Mito Uzumaki, the predecessor of Naruto-kun. I was his mentor in the art of fūinjutsu, and I watched over him as he grew up in a village full of fear and scorn." She looked to the turquoise-haired woman and continued, "You must be Neliel. Naruto-kun has told me quite a bit about you, and I can tell he cares a great deal about you."
Neliel gave a respectful bow in greeting. "He's spoken of you as well, Uzumaki-san. He holds you in the highest esteem for all you've done for him, and I can't thank you enough for helping him grow into the man he's become."
"Oh, there's no need for that, my dear. I'm just a dead woman who became part of his life by chance."
"Even so, your contributions to his life are appreciated. And both myself and my child form care for him just as much as he does us."
"I can tell," Mito spoke while smiling knowingly, earning a faint blush from the Arrancar woman. "Be patient with him, Neliel-san. There are things he will need time to understand; things I'm sure you know about and wish to have with him."
Her blush deepened at that, and Neliel could only nod in understanding.
"How are you-?" Yoruichi began.
"A Shinigami? Naruto-kun did the unpredictable once more," Mito answered with a small chuckle. "This small temple was made to look after an artifact of the Uzumaki Clan that was linked to the Shinigami of our world; a true Avatar of Death that governs over the souls of the Elemental Nations."
"And you chose to look after it, even in death," Yoruichi assumed, earning a nod.
"Yes. As an Uzumaki, it was my duty to keep the secret of the Mask of the Shinigami. I couldn't ask Naruto-kun to do it, for he had his own responsibilities and problems. Not to mention he still has much of his life ahead of him. I couldn't take that from him. And my granddaughter, Tsunade, had her own duties as the Hokage, like my husband and brother-in-law before her."
Neliel's eyes widened in realization. "The mask… And your new form… Naruto somehow transferred the powers of the mask into you."
"Correct. Thanks to Naruto-kun's efforts, I can continue my duty in looking after the power of the mask, as well as be a more integral part of his spiritual journey. He spoke to me about something he referred to as Team Rei…?"
Yoruichi chuckled at that. "He mentioned it to us after our earlier chat with Tsunade, and hinted at it during the talk."
"Naruto wants to form a team meant to deal with any issues that are related to the spiritual world," Neliel continued. "Seeing as more potential spiritual threats will no doubt appear, he wanted to be prepared."
"I see. So, the team would consist of Naruto-kun, you both, and myself then?" Mito guessed.
"Naruto wanted Mikoto-san to be part of it, as well."
"No offense to your species, Neliel-san, but would that be wise?"
"If Naruto didn't have a method of helping Mikoto handle her cravings for spiritual energy, then I'd agree with you. But, I trust Naruto's decision and his ability to make it work. Plus, Mikoto should evolve as a Hollow, soon. She just needs that final push to become an Arrancar."
Yoruichi frowned thoughtfully at that. "I think I know what that last push could be. Aizen used the Hōgyoku that he stole from Kisuke to create the espada, right?"
Naruto and Neliel had told Yoruichi about the subordinates under Aizen's authority, with Neliel being an old member before Nnoitra ambushed her and sent her away with the help of Szayelapporo. She had told both Naruto and Yoruichi how the Espada were the higher tier Arrancar made from the power of the Hōgyoku.
"Yes. I assume that you mean to do something similar with another Hōgyoku?" Neliel replied.
"Yeah… Aizen doesn't know it yet, but Kisuke has another one that he's hoping to hide and destroy. Before he does that, we can use it to help Mikoto-san become an Arrancar."
"…Why would you want to help a Hollow grow stronger?" the ex-Espada questioned suspiciously.
"Whether he likes it or not, Naruto will be dragged into this fight that Aizen is orchestrating between his forces and the Seireitei. I don't want him to be pulled in without a means to fight back, and that means helping those who stand by him grow stronger. Plus, Mikoto-san didn't ask to become a Hollow; but it's obvious that she cares for Naruto a lot, and Naruto her."
Neliel frowned at her for a moment before nodding. "Alright… I still don't trust you, though."
"I know, but you can trust in my desire to help Foxy," Yoruichi fired back with a small grin.
"I suppose I can. But it will have to wait until after our mission to the Tenchi Bridge."
"Of course. Will you come with us, Uzumaki-san?" the werecat asked respectfully.
Mito smiled and nodded once. "Yes. Naruto hoped I would be a part of Team Rei, so I will do all I can as a member."
"I'm glad to hear that, Mito-baa-chan," Naruto spoke, having woken up. Sitting up, he grinned brightly at his predecessor. "I'm glad that my gamble paid off. I wasn't sure it would work, but it looks like I was able to give you the mask's spiritual energy."
"I should take you over my knee for that stunt," Mito spoke up, breaking Naruto's grin and making him sweat nervously. She eased his worries with a gentle smile and pulled him into a warm embrace. "But I'm to happy to do that. You took a stupid risk, but it paid off and allowed me a second chance. However," she pulled back and gave him a stern look, "don't you dare do anything that foolish again. Am I understood?"
"No promises," Naruto replied with a chuckle, making her sigh in amusement.
"I suppose that's the best I can hope for…" she relented, earning some laughs from the others.
The following morning, Kakashi and Sakura were greeted to two newcomers wearing the Hidden Leaf headband, and one of them sharing an almost tender hug with their Hokage. She was a redheaded woman wearing black robes with a sword sheathed at her side.
"Yo," Kakashi greeted awkwardly, making the others turn to them. He noted that Naruto had a look of pride on his face.
"Hey, sensei! Wanna take a guess who this lady is?" he replied to Kakashi's greeting while nodding his head to the redhead's direction.
The Jonin turned to the woman once more, and she stepped away from Tsunade to face him and Sakura. It took a few moments, but the red hair, the twin buns, and the sealing tags acting as earrings all drove home her identity. His visible eye widened in shock and he turned to Naruto, to which the grinning blonde nodded in confirmation.
"Kakashi-sensei, Sakura, I want you to meet my mentor and predecessor, Mito Uzumaki."
Sakura, having read about the woman during the few years Naruto was gone, widened her eyes alongside her sensei. The duo both gave the legendary woman a bow from the waist in respect, which she giggled at in amusement.
"You don't need to stand on ceremony with me, young ones. I'm no longer the same Mito I was back when I was alive," she assured them as they stood straight again. "I'm assuming Naruto-kun has told you about his connection to spirits and the dearly departed?"
They both nodded.
"I met Naruto-kun when he was fairly young, before he entered the Academy. I provided him someone to talk to regularly and started his studies on fūinjutsu. You may have believed him to be a fool with little talent as a shinobi, but that was at my advisal. I had him embrace the oldest and truest of ideals regarding the life of a shinobi, and that was deception."
"If you can fool your friends, you can fool anyone," Naruto quoted.
"Precisely. When Naruto-kun met me, I was tethered to an old building that was guarded by the Uzumaki Clan; but I'm now free from my tether thanks to Naruto-kun's actions last evening. Now, I can freely join him and his friends for what he's calling Team Rei."
"What's Team Rei?" Sakura questioned.
"It's a team made of individuals who can respond to and handle threats of a spiritual nature," Tsunade explained. "Hence the name. Currently, the team consists of Naruto, Neliel, my grandmother Mito, and the woman next to Neliel."
"Yoruichi Shihōin," said woman greeted with a small smirk. "I'm from beyond the walls that separate your world from the space between."
"Naturally, this information is S-Rank in nature," Tsunade warned the two. "I expect you both to keep it to yourself."
"Yes, ma'am," the duo replied seriously, both aware of the consequences involved in speaking such a high-level secret.
Immediate Execution.
"Now, onto business," the Hokage continued. "Kakashi, seeing as Naruto will be leading and trained by Team Rei, I'm assigning two members to fill in the remainder of Team Kakashi. One of them, you've worked with before. I assume you remember Yamato?"
The Jonin nodded with an eye-smile. "Yes, I remember my time working with him. It'll be nice to have someone I'm used to on my team. Who else will you assign to us?"
"I was going to assign Anko, but the mission you're about to take today would be too much for her; considering that Orochimaru is involved. I don't need her breaking protocol for her vendetta; no matter how justified."
The others who knew about Anko's past relationship with Orochimaru nodded in understanding.
"Don't get me wrong; she will be part of your team. However, for this mission, I'll be pulling Yugao to assist you. Three ANBU level shinobi and a medic trained by me will be a respectable squad."
"I agree, Lady Tsunade. And even though Anko isn't exactly the level of ANBU, she's still very capable."
"So," Naruto cut in, "when do we leave for Tenchi Bridge?"
"As soon as Yamato and Yugao arrive and are briefed on the mission. Naruto, you and your team can wait by the gates," Tsunade suggested.
"Sounds good. Well, ladies, shall we?"
The trio of women smiled in amusement at his remark and how he stood aside like a gentleman. They knew he was lightening the mood, and it was appreciated.
Once Team Rei left, Sakura asked Tsunade, "So, is Naruto off our team…permanently?"
"As of now, I'd go with indefinitely. Naruto needs to be prepared for what may come from the spiritual side of things. Normally, I wouldn't be as concerned, but with everything that has been happening with Naruto regarding spirits, I need to err on the side of caution."
"I… I understand…"
Kakashi placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry. Whatever may come, I'm sure Naruto and the others will be able to handle it."
"I don't doubt Naruto, sensei. It's just… I was hoping that Team 7 would stay together longer. The others are still with their old squads, and Team 7 never really recovered after…Sasuke-kun left."
"Teams don't last forever, Sakura," Tsunade spoke up candidly. "Sooner or later, all the other teams will split apart and be reassigned depending on their skillsets. Besides, whether you believe it or not, Team 7 was doomed from the start."
Sakura cringed at that but remained silent. She wanted to deny that claim, but when she looked at the past objectively, she couldn't. There was teamwork at times, but few and very far between. Plus, Sasuke's need for vengeance, and his willingness to cast everything aside to obtain it, was toxic to the team.
Not to mention his and her belittlement of Naruto, who had proved to be the most willing member of Team 7. Even Kakashi was bad for the team, lacking any real drive to train them as Genin and mainly training Sasuke when he was matched with Gaara for the Chunin Finals.
And that training led to Sasuke learning the very jutsu that had been used in an attempt to kill Naruto on multiple occasions.
'We really were doomed from the start…' she thought to herself depressingly, barely acknowledging the arrivals of Yamato and Yugao. 'Sasuke-kun… What will you do if we run into you? Will you try and finish what you started? Do you even want to come back? Will you try and…kill us?'
"How does it feel, Mito-san?" Yoruichi asked, referring to the gigai she was wearing and to seeing the village again after so long.
"It's…" she was about to say, but she stopped and took in a deep breath of air. "It'll take a bit of getting used to, but it's a welcome change."
"Good," Naruto spoke up with a smile. "I'm glad that you're looking forward to things."
"I'm still bothered that you did something so foolish, but I won't say anything more on the subject. You took a gamble, and it paid off. Uzumaki of the past have been killed by lesser risks when it came to fūinjutsu; or worse."
The others winced at that, not wanting to know what the results of those failed risks were if not death.
Neliel looked to Naruto and asked, "How do you think Sasuke will take hearing that his mother is still alive?"
"I doubt he'll believe me," Naruto answered simply. "Probably try and kill me for crossing a line regarding his family. So, I had one of my Clones ask Mikoto for something I could tell him so that he's more likely to listen to me. A memory that the two of them shared and that nobody else would know."
"Good idea."
"If this guy tried to kill you before," Yoruichi began, "why go so far to help him?"
"Because Sasuke had his entire life dictated by a lie made by his older brother and the Elders of the village." Using his sensory to feel if any living sources of spiritual energy were around, Naruto continued, "His brother wasn't some homicidal maniac who killed the entirety of the Uchiha Clan out of some bullshit scheme of testing himself. He was trying to stop them from making a huge mistake. They wanted to start a coup after years of being driven further and further away from the village, feeling that their respect and pride as a Founding Clan was being spat on by the village itself."
He shook his head and frowned sympathetically.
"They felt outcasted by their home, and it didn't help that there were rumors of the Uchiha being responsible for the Kyuubi's attack on the night of my birth. To be fair, an Uchiha was responsible; but they had no affiliation to the Clan other than blood. No loyalty to them whatsoever."
"Madara always believed that the Uchiha was the superior Clan," Mito spoke up. "He tried to rally them once before when Tobirama became the Second Hokage after my husband, Hashirama. He felt that the Uchiha weren't getting the respect that they deserved as one of the founders of the Hidden Village System."
"But they didn't agree with him at the time, did they?" Neliel asked.
"No. They believed that they were well respected, and they had grown exhausted from the many decades of warring before the alliance and village were formed. Madara was supposedly killed by my husband during their final battle against one another at the Valley of the End. It was after the fight ended when I made myself the first Jinchūriki of the Kyuubi."
"It was also the time when Madara couldn't match Hashirama even WITH me under is control, AND with his damn Susano'o enshrouding me like armor. Hashirama was too strong with his signature Wood Style and his access to senjutsu."
'Senjutsu…?' Naruto repeated.
"In simple terms, it is a state when someone takes in the chakra of nature itself, merges it with their own chakra, and synchronizes it to the point of near enlightenment. Very, VERY few people have ever succeeded in becoming Sages; people capable of using senjutsu."
'Jiraiya called himself a Sage many times before… Does that mean…?'
"I have felt a connection between senjutsu and him, but it is nowhere near the level of Hashirama. Either Sages, like shinobi today, can't hold a candle to those of the past, or the Human Toad doesn't have enough of a connection."
'Think I could learn it?'
Naruto was unaware that the others were watching him quietly, guessing he was conversing with the Kyuubi. Mito smiled softly at her successor taking strides in working with the Bijuu she once held. Admittedly, she knew she wasn't fair to the Kyuubi during her tenure as its Jinchūriki. It was left in the shadows of her mindscape, never allowed to step into the light thanks to her seal suppressing it so deeply.
'Naruto-kun, you have the potential to surpass my husband. I saw it in your eyes when I first met you, and I see it more each time I look at you. Every step you take on your life's journey brings you ever closer to becoming a legend greater than those of the past. I believe it…'
"Senjutsu isn't something that can be learned by just anyone, boy. The risks differ between the methods taught, but the end result of failure is always the same; death in the form of permanently being assimilated with Nature itself."
'Damn…'
"If I were you, I'd speak with those Toads of yours about it. Get ALL the facts about it from them, and then make a decision from there about if the risks are worth it."
'Right… I'll do that after this mission and when we have more time.'
They cut off their conversation when Team Kakashi arrived. "Ready to go?" the masked Jonin asked.
"Ready when you are," Naruto replied after getting nods from his team.
With that, Team Kakashi and Team Rei were off for the Tenchi Bridge.
"Is this accurate, Szayelapporo?" Aizen asked his scientific Espada.
"Yes, Lord Aizen," he answered, pausing the recording of his Hollow scouts facing a whiskered blonde. "Apparently, this Naruto Uzumaki can see and fight Hollows, and quite effectively. He referred to himself as a shinobi, which I assume is this world's title for soldier."
Aizen studied the frozen image of the Uzumaki teen for a few moments. "Clones, energy spheres, wind manipulation…" he murmured before letting the recording play for a moment. He paused it again and added, "Plus those odd chains…"
"They absorbed the reishi of the defeated Hollow, adding their power to his own. I believe it's safe to assume that the boy will only grow stronger if he can absorb more reishi from future defeated Hollows."
"I agree. However, I find myself intrigued by how far he can grow. From what you told me, Neliel was also sent to this world; even if she was weakened before her departure."
"I doubt her child self would be much help to this Naruto, Lord Aizen."
"Unless he happens to absorb her reishi in her weakened state," the man challenged, earning a concerned expression from the pink-haired Espada.
"I hadn't considered that…"
"Perhaps another test is in order. Instead of regular Hollows, we should send an Arrancar to test the Uzumaki boy."
He smirked to himself while Szayelapporo had a visible expression of consideration. The reason for Aizen's smirk was that he sensed a pair of Arrancar he knew wouldn't hesitate to do anything if it meant they could show their use to him.
"Lord Aizen!" announced a pair of female voices.
'Right on time,' he mused, enjoying how his plan was coming together. Regarding the new arrivals, he replied, "What is it, Loly? Menoly?"
The two women bent the knee to him as Loly answered, "Forgive us for eavesdropping, but we would be greatly honored to go and test this shinobi for you. We will face him and see what he is capable of."
"And if he proves to be a threat," Menoly continued, "then we will dispose of him in your name, sir."
"Please send us, Lord Aizen!" they both begged, keeping their heads bowed to him.
Aizen shared a glance and smirk with his scientific Espada, and Szayelapporo went to fetch some monitoring bracelets. "Very well, then. I must admit that it's refreshing to see some initiative in my Arrancar."
Loly looked up to him from her knelt position, her eyes conveying a level of devotion bordering on worship. "We would do anything for you, Lord Aizen."
Menoly looked up as well and added, "Just give us the chance to prove ourselves to you, My Lord."
Taking the monitoring bracelets offered to him, Aizen gestured them to approach before placing the bracelets on their non-dominant arms. Menoly looked eager to start while Loly had a faint blush and enthusiastically vicious grin on her face.
"Go, find the one named Naruto Uzumaki, and report what he's capable of. Do this, and I will be sure to show you how much you're appreciated," Aizen ordered with a casual smirk.
"Of course, Lord Aizen!" Loly replied.
"We won't fail you," Menoly swore before the duo approached the Garganta that Szayelapporo created.
As soon as they stepped through, the Espada asked his leader, "What do you think of their chances, Lord Aizen?"
Aizen kept silent while he turned to leave. With a calm gait, he maintained his smirk as he departed from the laboratory.
Team Rei and Team Kakashi were hidden in the thick trees near the Tenchi Bridge, the two teams observing as Yamato moved across under the guise of Sasori's puppet, Hiruko. Recreating the puppet with his Wood Style was easy, and the Transformation Jutsu allowed for a basic cloak to resemble that of the Akatsuki's.
To the surprise of Naruto and Sakura, the spy that "Sasori" was speaking with was none other than Kabuto Yakushi, who was a spy for Orochimaru that posed as a Leaf Genin during their Chunin Exams years ago.
"Do we go yet?" Naruto asked Kakashi.
"No, not yet. Yamato is still maintaining his cover."
"Naruto," Neliel spoke up, "I can feel another spiritual presence across the bridge. This one is…tainted."
"I feel it too," Yoruichi agreed with a frown.
Naruto activated his Shigan and focused across the bridge. "Someone is on the other side of the bridge watching what's happening. Their soul looks like it's nearly finished devouring another, and the energy is slowly eating away at the body."
"Forced assimilation of a soul?" Mito asked in disgust only to see Neliel looking uncomfortable. "Oh, I meant no offense…"
"It's fine," she cut off before turning to Kakashi. "I think we should move in. We're two teams, and they're two people. We have the advantage in numbers."
"I agree with her," Yoruichi concurred. "We can catch them by surprise, put them on the back foot from the start."
Kakashi looked to his fellow Jonin, and she nodded. "Best to press the advantage, senpai," Yugao decided.
"Alright," he relented. "Let's move."
In multiple blurs of movement, the group of seven joined their eighth disguised member. Kabuto was caught off guard, and Yoruichi capitalized on this by vanishing in one instant before reappearing with Kabuto pinned to the ground. Her grip on his arm was tight, with the arm in an uncomfortable twist while her knee was pressed down on the back of neck.
Yamato allowed the wood making the false puppet to recede while Kakashi crouched in front of the restrained spy with his signature eye-smile. "Hello again, Kabuto. Been a long time, hasn't it?"
Despite his situation, Kabuto offered a smirk. "Last I saw you, I had you played a fool and escaped."
"Everyone gets caught off guard once in a while, just like you were right now."
"Hatake-san," Mito spoke up, staring across the bridge. "We have company."
The others, save for Yoruichi, looked to where she was and saw a pale-skinned man with black hair and yellow eyes that resembled a serpent. He had an amused smirk on his face as he stood across from them.
"Well, this is quite the gathering, isn't it?" he mused rhetorically with a chuckle. "Old faces and new ones to greet me and my subordinate. How delicious~!"
Naruto narrowed his eyes at the traitorous Sannin. "Where's Sasuke, Orochimaru? Didn't want risk your new body getting damaged before you could abandon ship with your current one?"
"Ah, Naruto-kun. How you have grown! Your stance just screams confidence, unlike the bravado you had as a child."
Neliel frowned in disgust at him. "Ugh… His soul is so foul. Not even a starving Hollow would want to devour it. The taste alone would be revolting."
Orochimaru chuckled with a raised brow. "Devour, you say? Interesting choice of words."
"Can I exorcise him now?" Mito asked, reaching down to grip the handle of her Zanpakutō.
"Not yet, baa-chan," Naruto denied. "We still need Sasuke's location from him."
"Oh? Such familiarity, and such a unique shade of red. Finally found another Uzumaki survivor, Naruto-kun?" the snake queried.
Ignoring the question, Naruto fired back, "How much longer do you have in that body, Orochimaru? Your soul's nearly done feasting on the rightful owner's soul. You sure you should be out here and not safe behind some medical curtains?"
"Think you know so much, do you?"
"I know more than you think, snake," the blonde replied, activating his dōjutsu once more and glaring at the Sannin with blue eyes ringed in white fire.
"Well, now… It seems Sasuke wasn't the only one to show such promise over the years. Tell me, what do those eyes do for you?"
Naruto smirked this time and taunted, "They show me how scared you really are. What's wrong, Orochimaru? You really that scared of death? It's not so frightening, y'know."
The man's chuckles turned into laughter. "I see you have Jiraiya's level of overconfidence! You think you know about life and death, Naruto-kun?"
"I knew more than you do now about such things when I was still a little kid. It's amazing how much you can achieve when you abandon your fears over death. After all, whoever said death was the end?"
Neliel, Mito, and Yoruichi all smirked at Naruto's comments while Team Kakashi remained tense for a fight.
"Also, don't compare me to Jiraiya. The less I'm associated with him, the better," Naruto added.
"Had a falling out, did you? How sad for you, Naruto-kun."
He chuckled once again in amusement before abruptly stopping when he felt a weight bearing down on him. Looking to the blonde Uzumaki, he saw the white fire in his eyes flickering brighter while an aura of the same white flames outlined his body like a shroud.
'What…is this pressure?'
"Funny thing about Death, Orochimaru… There's more to it than we think, and we're more connected to it than we realize."
Orochimaru finally dropped his smirk for a cautious expression while Kabuto was sweating in his pinned position. 'What's going on? Naruto was practically worthless as a Genin, even with training from Jiraiya and access to the Rasengan. How could he be letting off enough power to make me sweat? And why is his presence making me…anxious?'
Yamato used his Wood Style to restrain Kabuto, nodding to Yoruichi and letting her step away and stand beside Naruto alongside Neliel and Mito. Team Rei had their combined gaze staring Orochimaru dead in his eyes, and the snake's yellow orbs widened when he finally recognized the redheaded woman.
"You… You should be dead…" he muttered in genuine shock.
Mito smiled serenely at him, but it did nothing to calm the Sannin. "As Naruto-kun told you: there's more to Death than you think."
"Someone who cheats it out of fear would never understand the power it holds," Neliel added condescendingly.
"From what I heard about you, I thought you'd find something scarier than Death," Yoruichi mused aloud before waving it off. "I guess you're not as imaginative as I thought. Mayuri would embarrass you with the shit he's come up with."
Orochimaru was frowning at the constant insults and accusations of his so-called fears thrown his way. Holding up a handseal, he retorted, "Maybe I should show you just how scared you believe I am."
Naruto smirked and asked, "Sure your body can handle it? Your soul is eating it from the inside. I'm sure you can feel it."
'Damn boy… It must be that odd dōjutsu of his. It's seeing how my soul is nearly finished with this container. I need to finish this quickly and get Kabuto free so that we can prepare the ritual.'
"Kakashi," Naruto called back. "Keep an eye on Kabuto. Make sure he can't get out."
Kakashi frowned at the order by his ex-student. "I think we should take Orochimaru together, Naruto."
"It's cool, senpai," the Uzumaki replied, giving his old sensei a new respectful title. With his signature grin, he reached up and gripped the handle of the Kubikiribōchō while crouching slightly. "We got this."
"Yeah, Cyclops!" Yoruichi agreed with an eager grin. "Let us handle it."
"You can step in if you feel we're struggling, Hatake-san," Mito added to appease him.
Neliel kept quiet, never taking her eyes off Orochimaru.
Kakashi sighed and nodded. "Fine. But don't underestimate him. He's not a Sannin for nothing."
Naruto's grin grew at that as the white fire outlining his form coalesced above him and took the form of a grinning demon. Binding Threads split apart and reformed into gloves, producing a chill in the air that could imitate the feeling of frigid grip of Death.
"Leave this to Team Rei. Now, let's go!" he exclaimed.
His team joined him in his charge against the White Snake of the Hidden Leaf.
That's it for now! I know that leaving it on a sort of cliffhanger is a dick move, but I'm admittedly a dick.
So, sorry, but not sorry!
In somewhat related news, I'm hoping to do another Naruto/Bleach idea that involves a Hollow Naruto paired with Orihime (I love her) and possibly four other lovely women from the Bleach series.
I'm gonna leave a small sample of sorts after these ending notes. Tell me what y'all think ALONG WITH what you think of this update!
Until next time!
Stay safe, healthy, and positive!
Dreaming of the Future
pain17ification
Bleary images were seen from his eyes as they slowly opened. A few blinks were needed to bring the images into focus, and what greeted him was a distant sky framed by parallel walls adorned with slick, yet incredibly sharp spikes of natural earth.
A chasm…
The chasm…
The one he had been shoved into by that self-proclaimed Super Pervert and Toad Sage in some last-ditch effort to get him to access that second energy. And he tried to grasp that power so he could summon a Toad. When that failed, he had tried to grab one of the spikes in some hopeless effort to save himself.
To no one's surprise, that failed. In fact, it failed so epically that he wound up tearing his shoulder out of its socket and cutting into it enough for blood to trail behind him in his descent towards the abyss below him. With one arm useless, he couldn't perform the handseals needed to summon; even if he had miraculously managed to access the power of the beast sealed within him.
The last thing he remembered was an odd sense of freedom from the weightlessness of his fall. He clung to that feeling in a desperate attempt to push down the fear and regret he had bubbling up inside.
Then darkness.
And then, an odd sense of awareness that led to his current position of waking up staring at the sky far above him. He was confused, to be sure; but he thought that a miracle happened, and he managed to survive the fall, despite the sheer impossibility of the notion.
Using his left arm to push himself upright, he saw nothing but darkness ahead of him at the bottom of this chasm. But what caught his attention was a rattling sound when he moved. His gaze peered down to his chest and saw something that gave him pause.
A plug of sorts with a chain attached to it. Gaze following the individual links, he saw that the other end was attached to a body that was, peculiarly, garbed in his own clothing. Did he somehow make a Shadow Clone that was physically linked to him during his plummet to the bottom?
Unconsciously, he held his torso upright with both arms before blinking in confusion. Shouldn't he be unable to move his arm? Looking to his right side, he saw a perfectly healthy arm helping him stay upright.
Confusion slowly transitioned into worry, and he got to his feet while trying to ignore how weak he felt and the rattling of the chain. With slow, anxious steps, he approached the body he was chained to and studied it.
The clothing matched his, and the entire body was lying in a puddle of blood. Pieces of bone and bits of what could only be brain littered the ground beside it. Blonde locks that once spiked in righteous defiance appeared to be wilted in death while blue eyes stared lifelessly at the sky above.
But what drove home the horrifying truth was the whisker-marked cheeks on the dead body.
His whisker-marked cheeks.
Terror took over, and he scrambled back while falling over, pushing himself as far away from the body as the chain allowed. The need to flee from the sight, to run away and never look back, drove him to do one last act that would lead him to a life he never could've imagined.
Frantic hands gripped the chain links closest to the plug on his chest and tugged with all their might. It was excruciating, and he felt like he was ripping out his own insides; but the hysteria of seeing his own broken, dead body proved enough to numb the agony he was experiencing in trying to tear off his chain.
When he finally succeeded in freeing himself of the chain, a convergence of blue and red energy raged from the hole he had created. It engulfed him, and he could only let out a silent scream as a white substance flooded out from the hole after the mixed aura left him. The substance cocooned him, ensnaring him in its embrace.
But just before he was fully consumed by it, the whites in his eyes turned pitch black while his hair bled into a crimson shade. And unknown to him, the energy he had unleashed created a pillar of sickly violet light that tinted the land, the trees, and the people in its radiance.
And the one most shaded by the pillar of aura was a certain Sage who could only stare at the light that burned the skies in dread.
"What have I done…?"