Chapter 7 – Darkness Approaches
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[Espada Meeting Room, Las Noches, Hueco Mundo]
Current Time….
Recap:
"Ladies and gentlemen of the Espada, we have the approaching threat of the highest level; it would appear that the Sage of the Six Path's reincarnate has appeared…" Aizen declared.
After Ulquiorra paused the recording at the point that Naruto had dodged his attack Aizen informed the Espada of the situation regarding this person; as he gave this explanation some of the Espada weren't convinced that the blonde-haired teenager was even worth Aizen's time since he appeared, to them at least, very similar to Ichigo Kurosaki whom Aizen had also invested an interest in and he was viewed as trash by the Arrancar after Ulquiorra and Yammy Llargo's encounter with Kurosaki.
"What do think of him, Ulquiorra?" Aizen asked the Espada, well aware of the skepticism among the Arrancars.
"He is very similar to Kurosaki; his power, however, is far greater than that piece of trash," Ulquiorra replied before he looked at Aizen as if he was making sure that Aizen approved of what he would say next. Aizen nodded.
"I would go as far as to say that he may even be more powerful than Lord Aizen," Ulquiorra claimed as everyone's eyes widened, except Aizen's, Gin's, and Tosen's, at what the Fourth Espada said.
"If that's the case then why did you not capture the boy as you were ordered to?"
The question came from Gin who was sporting his fox-like grin as he usually was; the former 3rd Division captain had been informed of the ninja's arrival a few minutes after Aizen and was suprised that to find that Ulquiorra had returned without his target.
"Because I had also ordered him to return without the boy if he was spotted by any Soul Reaper," Aizen said in defense of the Espada; Ulquiorra then continued his recording, which ended shortly after Ichigo, Rukia, Kenpachi, and Byakuya interrupted the fight.
"How was the Gotei 13 able to respond so quickly when they're still reeling from the attack by Kurosaki and the other humans?" Gin asked Aizen; Aizen just shook his head.
"It is of no concern to us; the only thing we must focus on is determining how we will deal with the ninja," Aizen replied; though Tosen and the Espada didn't catch up on it Gin, who was able to read Aizen's manipulations, realized that Aizen did not know how the enemy had responded so quickly and was unnerved by this, even if the former captain of the 5th Division didn't reveal it.
"I'm sending a force of 5 of you to go to Karakura Town, where the shinobi is currently located; since he'll have undoubtebly awakened his Soul Reaper abilities you will only attempt to gauge his abilities, so do not try to capture him yet. Those of you who are on this force will not be bringing your fracciones if you have any," Aizen said as everyone looked at him as if he had gone mad.
"Are you certain that such a force is necessary, Lord Aizen?" Tosen asked.
"If this is boy is even half as powerful as the Sage of the Sith Paths was said to be then he must be approached with extreme caution; anyone below Espada-level would not survive an encounter with this child and it is too early to begin suffering casualties," Aizen replied before he assembled this strike force. Ulquiorra then opened a Garganta for the group of Espada, which included Ulquiorra, Yammy, Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez, Coyote Starrk, and Tier Harribel; Lillynette Gingerbuck, who was not an Espada, was also allowed to go as Starrk had sealed his power within her instead of a zanpakuto, to go to the Human Realm. After the Garganta closed behind the group the rest of Espada left the meeting room, leaving Aizen with his fellow ex-captains.
"Is this boy that important?" Gin asked.
"I never thought that the Sage's reincarnate would appear at this moment and I didn't plan for it; before we can proceed any further we must know who we're dealing with," Aizen explained; the traitor to the Soul Society could only hope that he was wrong about the ninja.
[Urahara Shop]
Meanwhile...
Different.
If you asked Kisuke to describe Naruto after two weeks of observing the ninja, this would be the only word you he could use, which would come as a surprise to many of those who are aquianted with the former 12th Division captain. Kisuke had a feeling that Naruto would be viewed with the same sentiment in his own world. The closest person that Urahara compare the ninja to was Ichigo and, despite the fact that they were similar, that still be selling the ninja short; Naruto's training was proof of this.
It has been a week since Naruto and Ichigo had fought one another; Kisuke had both Soul Reapers sent to Isshin's clinic to recover some of their minor wounds so as not to arouse any suspicions from those in Karakura Town who were not aware of who Naruto truly was. Naruto had recovered from his injuries only half a day after the fight; after Ichigo had recovered from his wounds a few hours later Naruto began his actual training under the Substitute Soul Reaper with Yoruichi also helping with his training. It was slow going in the first couple of hours as Naruto was a slow learner, at least when the two Soul Reapers tried to explain the lessons to him; that changed instantaneously, however, when they decided to have Naruto learn these techniques through experience. They never imagined that anyone could have a growth rate this monstrous; Ichigo, who had a ridiculous growth rate himself, might take a couple of days to complete a lesson whereas Naruto could complete that same lesson in a couple of hours and that's if he's not using his unusual training method that had him use his shadow clones.
After first mastering the use of Shunpo and Zanjutsu he then proceeded to master the use of the special abilities his zanpakuto, Kenja. Since Naruto's shadow clones were useless when it came to this part of the training it took Naruto a little more time to complete than the others. Just trying to figure out what type of zanpakuto Kenja is was a challenge since she had multiple abilities across no less than three different zapakuto types; Kenja is essentially a melee-type, wind-type, and, strangely enough, sealing-kido type zanpakuto all in one blade or, to be more correct, staff. It was the sealing-type capabilities of his zanpakuto that he was learning to use right now since there was not much else they could teach him, other than Bankai of course.
While everyone else was either training for the upcoming war with Aizen or attending to other matter, important or otherwise, Naruto was trying to catch Yoruichi with one of his zanpakuto's seals; while the chances of actually catching the Goddess of Flash were slim to none, this exercise would help him learn to better utilize these seals.
As Yoruichi dodged another of Naruto's seals, Ichigo, Kisuke, and Kurama observed the ninja's training; while Ichigo was usually the one helping Naruto with his zanpakuto training this lesson required the faster of Naruto's two mentors.
"Is she too fast for you to handle, Naruto?" Ichigo taunted, to which Naruto responded by releasing a nearby shadow clone; when that happened Naruto's eyes changed, with his irides turning yellow, his pupils becoming horizontal bars, and reddish-orange pigmentation appearing around his eyes. Ichigo paled at seeing that Naruto had switched to Sage Mode so quickly.
"And I thought Naruto had some sort of death wish. If Naruto accidently kills you, Ichigo, using Shunkō can I have Zangetsu?" Kurama asked Ichigo in a mocking manner; Kurama, after obtaining a human form, had gained a mischievious side like Kenja and Naruto, though it was far more subtle by comparison.
"Shut up!" Ichigo roared back at Kurama; he clearly did not find the Tailed Beast's sense of humor amusing since Naruto had nearly killed him before he had fully mastered the use of the Hakuda/Kido hybrid technique.
Before Kurama even had a chance to laugh at Ichigo's reaction he, Naruto, Kisuke, Yoruichi, and Toshiro, who was one the other Soul Reapers in the training area at the time, sensed the spiritual pressure of what appeared to be six Arrancars, five of them being at Espada-level. After a few tense moments of silence Naruto finally voiced the feelings that all Soul Reapers present were most certainly harboring.
"I guess Aizen's little war had finally started," he said.
[On the Outskirts of Karakura Town, Human Realm]
A Few Minutes Later...
The five Espada arrived in the World of Living and immediately proceeded with objectives; Starrk, Lillynette, and Grimmjow attempted to divert the attention of the Soul Reapers, with Grimmjow also attempting to attract the attention of Kurosaki so that he could finish the fight that Ulquiorra didn't, While Yammy, Ulquiorra, and Harribel attempting to lure out Naruto.
After the first two "groups" fanned out, Yammy turned to his fellow Espada.
"So are we going to draw this kid out, Ulquiorra?" the 10th/0 Espada asked.
"The same way we lured Kurosaki to us; we will attack the people of this town though this time it'll only be those with above average levels of spiritual pressure," Ulquiorra explained as his group began to move, looking for any unfortunate soul who was spiritually aware...
Next Time - Invasion: The Espada Attack!
