Chapter 3:

The moment they stepped foot into District 75, they felt it. An alarmingly immense reiryoku that seemed to be the very personification of fear itself. Shunsui jokingly likened it to Unohana but on with as much control as Zaraki. All four of the Captains also noticed something as they neared the source of the pressure. Less and less people were around and those that were, were pale and looked horrified. Tōshirō had to admit, he hadn't felt pure fear like this for as long as he could remember and he could tell that even the others felt it.

Yamamoto, to his credit, only gripped his cane slightly tighter while Shunsui and Ukitake let out half-nervous, half-confused chuckles from time to time. Hitsugaya almost wanted to turn around as the reiryoku hit levels that would make even Kuchiki jealous and instinctively put his hand on his blade. Yes, his legs were sore, but he'd be damned if such a minor thing could slow him down.

"Wow, I guess Retsu-sensei wasn't kidding when she said that beyond the 70s, lies some monsters that can topple a Captain." Ukitake said lightly as a thin sheet of sweat dripped down his forehead.

"And here I thought that Kenpachi was a one-off thing." Shunsui added.

Tōshirō inwardly shuddered at the thought of another Kenpachi. "That's terrifying." He commented aloud.

"Hush." Yamamoto commanded. "Whatever is producing that power, it's coming." While he himself didn't move, Shunsui, Ukitake and Hitsugaya formed a wall before him and withdrew their respective zanpakutos. As the power crept closer, the sense of fear grew and grew until even Yamamoto, for the briefest of moments, almost withdrew Ryūjin Jakka.

Then the brush rustled and a figure walked out. It was a young boy, around the same build and height as Hitsugaya himself. He looked like a cross between Byakuya and Hitsugaya, Ukitake noted with the only distinguishable feature being the massive scar he had across his face that went from below his left eye, to across the bridge of his nose, to below his right eye. He had bright grey eyes and a complexion similar to Yoruichi Shihoin. And black, short hair that looked similar to Kuchiki.

He wore rags that showed his small, yet muscular body that had also been covered in scars. And in his right arm, was a jet black sword with a purple guard in the shape of a diamond and a black and grey hilt.

Just the sight of the young man almost broke Ukitake's heart. Upon closer inspection, he could see dried blood in various spots on the boy's attire. And considering how tightly he held the sword and how weak his knees appeared to be, they all could tell that he was scared.

"Hello…" Ukitake started off slowly. He eyed the boy cautiously as he slowly sheathed his blades. "We mean you no harm." He watched as a series of emotions ran through the boy's face before it landed on distrust and anxiety.

The immense reiryoku still lingered but the fear was slowly starting to go away. "Be careful, Jūshirō." Yamamoto commanded.

Ukitake simply looked at him. "Be careful of what? He's just a child." As the white haired captain turned back to face the boy, he took one step forward. The boy took a step back and by the look on his face, didn't want the man to come closer.

He held his sword in one hand before him in a defensive pose before Ukitake tried to speak again. "Easy, easy. We just want to talk to you."

"The last time someone 'just wanted to talk', I ended up with a few new scars and having to slaughter 5 people." The boy shot back dryly.

Jūshirō inwardly winced. "I'm sure. But really, we are. We are from the Gotei 13."

The mysterious boy eyed them closely before slowly lowering his sword. Without warning, he dropped the blade entirely and fell to one knee. Ukitake rushed to catch him before he had hit the floor and came to realize that the boy had passed out.

"Well," Shunsui started. "That was an interesting turn of events."

"Quite." Yamamoto said plainly. "What do you propose we do with this?"

"There are really only two options here. Either we kill him to prevent such power from falling into the wrong hands, which we're not doing. Or we can bring him along with us. Because honestly, we really could use the help." Kyoraku stated casually. He watched as Ukitake gestured to Hitsugaya and the latter pull out a pair of clothing.

Yamamoto stroked his beard sagely. "This may turn out to be even better for Hitsugaya. To have someone around his level to spar with."

"Mhm. And who knows, maybe when we give him those, the boy might grow up alongside him." Shunsui pondered. That was something that the old man hadn't thought about. That would be incredibly beneficial to them as a unit to have not one, but two heavy hitters in their ranks.

In an incredibly rare moment, Yamamoto smirked. "It's a good thing I got used to training to two." He said, referring to the older generation. "Otherwise, I wouldn't know what to do."

Shunsui returned the grin before walking towards the two white-haired shinigami.

"... at least it's a perfect fit." He heard as soon as he got within earshot. Jūshirō and Tōshirō both stared at the unconscious boy with Hitsugaya having slight disdain due to his clothes being taken from him.

"This was unforeseen." Yamamoto admitted in a strong tone. "However, this will do nothing but aid us in your training."

Hitsugaya looked confused. "Are you sure, sir?" The old man suddenly flared his reiatsu and Tōshirō stiffened under the sudden pressure.

"Every shinigami was once a member of the Rukongai. To even question the notion that this boy's power would not be useful is foolish." He spoke harshly. "Ukitake. Grab the boy and bring him with us. Bind him in a Bakudo for safe measures."

The captain of the 13th looked reluctant, but did it anyway as it truly did seem like the best course of action.

After they had gotten slightly beyond District 80, Tōshirō was lead by the three Captains to a place that resembled a warzone. Remnants of a battle long since fought ravaged the area. Craters were everywhere, large stone formations were missing portions of their face, scorched earth rested under their feet and the area seemed to be void of any and all greenery. The only thing about the area that was notable was the single river and massive waterfall that split the area into two complete halves.

How it managed to remain after all this chaos, Hitsugaya didn't know, but it made for quite the training spot.

"Man, it's been a long time since we've been here." Shunsui said in awe.

Ukitake nodded his head in agreement and gently put the still unconscious boy down. "Mhm, roughly 800 years or so. Give or take. Things were much simpler back then." He said sadly.

"Now is not the time for a trip down memory lane, boys." Yamamoto said seriously. "Now, we will begin the training. Firstly, wake up that child. He's slept for long enough."

Shunsui, for all his intelligence, simply grabbed a handful of water and threw it in the boy's face. The reaction was the boy immediately opening his eyes and sputtering.

"What the hell?!" He exclaimed. All but Yamamoto fought down the urge to laugh before the boy glare daggers at them.

"Sorry. But we figured it would be best to restrain you, given how powerful you are." Ukitake said sheepishly and with a nervous grin. He made an attempt to undo the boy's bindings but was stunned when his reiatsu spiked and the golden chains that bound him, slowly but surely turned black and crumbled away.

Even the Head Captain opened both of his eyes at the display and for a moment, was at a loss for words.

That was until he realized something. He had heard of some people overpowering kido with nothing more than their reiatsu but in all the accounts he heard, it had been done with an element such as ice or fire. Never had he seen something like that in his 2,000 years of existence.

"Incredible…" Tōshirō said in awe. "Who are you?" He couldn't help but ask.

The boy stared at them for a moment before answering. "Ryuu." He said plainly. He then stood up straight, dusted himself off and stood at attention. The last action vaguely surprised Ukitake.

"Aren't you going to try to escape?" He remarked. Ryuu simply shook his head 'no'.

"Mister, this is the first time that I've been surrounded by a group of people with weapons who hasn't tried to kill me. If all I have to do is listen to you to have some kind of peace, and for you to take me away from this Hell, so be it." Ryuu stated as though it should've been common knowledge. The Captains were slightly caught off-guard by such a mature answer but were thankful for it.

"Oh." Ukitake said sadly. "Well, don't you have any friends? Family?"

"Nope. the closest thing I've ever had to friends were people who were too scared to try to attack me." Ryuu said as casually as though they were talking about the weather.

Ukitake slumped his shoulders and Shunsui offered him a counseling pat on the back. "There, there Ju. It's nothing to be sad over. Ryuu-kun over there looks fine. Speaking of, Ryuu-kun." He turned to face the boy who had now been eyeing the clothes he was in carefully. "Do you have a last name?"

"Nope." Came the simple reply.

This whole time, Tōshirō and Yamamoto were silent. The latter had his eyes closed in thought while the former eyed the boy in distrust. Ryuu seemed to notice this.

"Oi. What?" Ryuu said, eluding to Hitsugaya's staring. Before either of them said anything, two stones were thrown, hard and fast towards them both.

As if on cue, they both spun on a heel, gripped their swords and split the object in half. Then turned to the assailant. Yamamoto had put his cane down and slowly undid the top of his uniform. "Enough chatter. You boys will get your first lesson right here and now."

When he grabbed his sword, Hitsugaya couldn't tell, all he knew was in the time it took for the word to reach his ear, a large wave of fire was sent at them both.

Many hours later, their first training session came to a conclusion. Hitsugaya and Ryuu both laid on their backs, covered in sweat, dirt, blood and bruises as the three elder Captains looked over them. Yamamoto's face was blank while Shunsui and Ukitake winced.

"Really not going to take it easy on them, huh?" Shunsui questioned the old man nervously.

"You know why he did that." Ukitake commented.

"Yeah, I know why. But that was brutal. Both Hitsugaya and Ryuu surprised me. Hitsugaya fought really well, he's quicker than he looks but moves to robotically. Ryuu fights almost exactly like Kenpachi. But with slightly more thinking."

The white-haired captain shrugged. "It's time. Luckily, we brought more than one."

He reached into his pocket to pull out a small bag. He reached in the bag and pulled out two purple transparent pill with a glowing white center. Just as the sun began to set, Ukitake walked towards the two collapsed boys.

"Hitsugaya-kun, Ryuu-kun. How do you both feel?" He received little more than a few grunts and shook his head in pity. He could easily recall him and Shunsui in the same position all those years ago. "Well, here. These are Reiatsu cultivating pills. You both take one and your reiryoku will hit its peak."

As expected, Tōshirō looked to him in disbelief. Ukitake simply waved him off. "Of course, it's not just that easy. Your power will peak, but you will have to train long enough for it to stay at a reasonable level. Think about it as throwing something up in the sky, it's bound to come back down, but you'll want to catch it as high as you could."

"You know," Shunsui cut in. "They are supposed to be totally drained, and with the amount of talking you're doing, they'll be at full power by the time you finish."

"Oh," Ukitake blushed softly in embrassassment. "Right." He knelt down and put one pill in each of the boys' mouths before he and Shunsui shunpo-ed a safe distance away. Seconds later, Yamamoto joined them and erected a kido barrier for safety.

"Well, let's hope this goes well."

There was silence, then two beams of black and white energy shot into the air.